Novacane
by seemenopeu
Summary: When Santana initially catches a glimpse of the new girl, Quinn Fabray, some would call it to love at first sight. She would like to call it anything else. Will Santana realize that she has more than a little crush on the blonde? Can the two stick together and become something more than just a 'one-time' high school thing? Friends and family are ready to test that.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I was writing this story while writing my more serious one ("Lost Stars") and felt like having something a tad more easy for the couple. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this story as well cause I really enjoy this couple and I don't really mind if its getting old.**

 **All mistakes are mine but not the characters.**

Chapter 1

"You're disgusting," Santana laughed as she reached into the cooler, most of the ice melted into a giant puddle and coated her hand as she bent over for a Coke.

The heat seemed to cover everything today, even the breeze that shifted through the air was thickly hot.

That didn't derail Puckermen from throwing his annual before-the-summer-ends-party-before-the-party. This one usually started in the afternoon and ended in the evening, while his last party of the summer started in the evening and ended in the morning. It was great fun if you were a lunatic.

Since it wasn't his official "summer is over" party, there weren't too many people, which was great. But there was just enough to fill his pool and put Santana out in the heat.

Santana felt her heart beat slow down as her hand lingered in the water for some relief from the heat. Everything felt sticky and dry at the same time. Even with just her bikini top and a pair of shorts on she couldn't escape the heat, the sun peppering her back with hot kisses. She would take off her short-shorts as well but she couldn't stand most of the people here and the last thing she wanted was for anyone to get too excited over her appearance. More than usual of course.

Also for some reason, Puck was following her around.

"I'm telling you, Lopez," he laughed as she stood back up, "It could happen."

"Again, disgusting," Santana popped her can open, the sound of the fizz from the bubbles making her close her eyes for a second. Once she opened them back she noticed a blonde in the corner talking to a few boys.

She had never seen her before with her golden, shiny, blonde hair that had its own wind machine and her long white see-through shirt that hung over her baby blue bikini, and her charismatic smile that shined way too bright. She was gorgeous and stealing Santana's attention, being that she was usually the hottest thing to even walk this pathetic town.

The girl laughed with one of the jocks, her hand coming into contact with his shoulder and Santana squeezed the can in her hand tight. She caught a weird feeling, the sight of the girl's eyes becoming wide as her smile cracked out against her face. Then Santana's eyes looked down at the girl's thighs, flawlessly cream-colored that were turning red from the sun. If she had put on sunscreen then she wouldn't have a chance of getting sunburned. Santana had some inside, if the girl want some she could help put some on-

Santana looked away, her face feeling hotter than ever. She swallowed down the unwelcomed thoughts and decided to change what she was feeling into something easier to explain. Maybe anger.

"Who the fuck is that?" Santana hissed as she turned back to the girl. She was pissed, she knew everyone that she needed to know. What makes this chick any different?

Puck looked over at the blonde and smiled, "That's Quinn Fabray. She's hot, right?"

"I wouldn't fucking know," Santana folded her arms but couldn't look away, her face feeling hot again, "The fuck is this pasty ass bitch doing here?"

"Whoa! Chill the fuck out. She's cool, I promise," Puck then motioned at the girl, "Hey, Quinn! Come here for a second!"

Quinn looked over and smiled.

"Don't invite her over! I don't want to talk to her!" Santana hissed and slapped at Puck's arm as the girl strolled over.

"Noah," Quinn greeted before turning to Santana and putting out her hand, "I'm Quinn."

Santana inspected the hand before looking up. The girl had painted her nails pink. How pleasant.

Santana gave a bitter laugh and placed her soda on her cheek, taking in that this new girl that smelled like vanilla, "Santana."

Quinn took a moment before retracting her hand and laughing nervously, "You go to McKinley?"

Santana felt herself silently gasp at the girl's laugh. It sounded way better than it should have. She couldn't respond and gave her best-pointed look.

"Cool, I will too. Soon. When school starts. I'll be a year late but not like set behind late just like I didn't go there last year. But I will be going there this year. At McKinley, where you go. I mean-" Quinn started to ramble.

"Oh great. Another Berry," Santana interrupted as she sipped her drink.

"No, not another Berry," Puck insisted. He looked over to a confused Quinn and explained, "Just some girl in our class who talks too much."

"I wouldn't want to do that," the girl smiled at Santana and the Latina felt her her breath get caught in her throat again.

Quinn had a perfect smile, and not some toothpaste commercial smile, but like a really perfect smile. It made Santana feel weird inside, like maybe sick. A different kind of sick where she wanted to smile back. She reframed, though.

"Look, it's been fun," then Santana turned away without finishing her thought. She pushed through the small crowd and into the sliding door for Puckermen's kitchen and sat on the cool counter to breathe.

She's felt this before but never to this degree. Could she even put it in the same category as jealousy anymore? She could still hear Quinn's laugh ringing in her ears. Was this some sort of punishment for what she did to Rachel last year? She said sorry. Sort of.

"What's wrong with you?" Puck's voice suddenly said next to her.

She sighed and opened her eyes, "I don't like her."

"Why?" Puck put his hand against his heart in offense, "She's hot!"

"I guess."

"You guess?!"

"Yes, I guess!"

Puck slammed his hands on the counter, "Have you seen her?!"

"Yes, I've seen her!"

"Then you know she's hot!"

"How should I know?!"

"What do you mean how should you know?! Don't you have eyes?!"

"Oh my God!" Santana sighed, "If we're going in that direction then do you think someone like... Channing Tatum is hot?"

"Fuck yeah, he's fucking hot. I'm not stupid," Puck rolled his eyes, said "No homo, though" before continuing, "But Quinn's fucking hotter."

"Whatever, Puck."

"What do you mean, whatever?"

"Whatever, Puck!"

"I just want you to tell me that she's hot!"

"Ask me that one more time and I'm going to feed you your peanut sized balls in a milkshake!"

"I'm just trying to express how hot she is, Santana. No need to get violent."

"Jesus."

"But she's really hot."

"Then fuck her!"

"I'm trying!" Puck looked around before placing his hands on her thighs and started to rub them up, "Are you jealous?"

"God no!" Santana pushed him away from her and gagged, "You smell like gross."

Compared to vanilla.

"Then be my wingman," Puck pleaded, "I really like her and I would love if my best friend would be there to support me."

Santana pinched the bridge of her nose with her forefinger and thumb, "Fine, whatever, Puck."

"Great," he slapped her on the back, "Just don't scare her off, okay?"

"Whatever, Puck," she said with more force as she scooted off the counter.

"Whatever, Puck," he mocked as he followed her outside, "Don't you know any more words?"

"You are bothering me so much right now," Santana sighed.

She knew that Puck could see that something was wrong with her and she was glad that he was trying to distract her with some bickering. But maybe not on that topic. Santana felt worse than ever.

Two hours later and Santana wished that she would have just left earlier. They were all gathered around a small bonfire talking and laughing and Puck couldn't talk his eyes off of Quinn and for some reason neither could Santana.

She felt irritated, maybe over the way everyone seemed to fall over this new girl so easily. She was so fucking perfect and everyone fucking loved her.

Quinn laughed at a joke and Santana felt like she couldn't take it anymore. She stood up and walked to the gate to get as far away as possible to breathe.

She reached the front yard and sighed as she sat on the porch. She needed to get ahold of herself. Push these thoughts and feelings to the back of her brain. She had done it for Brittany and with experience comes skill, right?

"Needed a break, too?" A voice above her asked and she almost jumped out of her skin once she saw it was Quinn.

Santana sighed at her luck, "Yeah."

Without asking, Quinn squatted next to her and stared out into the distance. Santana did the same and they ended up in a comfortable silence.

For a girl that Santana did not like that much, Quinn wasn't bad company. She wasn't a loud breather like some people Santana knew, and the way she would give a small sigh while her eyes squinted at a thought was almost endearing.

Santana turned her eyes at the ground, suddenly irritated that she was staring at the blonde.

"You hate me, don't you?" Quinn suddenly asked.

Santana looked back at her, the thought of _hating_ her never crossed her mind, "Maybe."

"Why? You don't even know me," Quinn asked. Santana watched as she asked with a small shake in her voice that was soon replaced with indifference, "We literally just met a couple hours ago."

Santana shrugged, "It just happens that way sometimes."

"I guess," Quinn looked at the ground in front of her, "I like your shoes."

"What?" Santana looked at her shoes, a pair of dirty converse that she threw on at the last minute while getting dressed this morning.

"They're a nice color."

"They're covered in dirt."

"I'm just trying to make nice."

"By complimenting me?"

"Is it working?" Quinn tried, a small smile on her lips. When she noticed the creep of a smile on Santana's lips she clapped her hands, "It is working!"

"It's not working," Santana folded her arms. She was not going to let this girl get the best of her, "You should just give up."

"I probably should but I would like to have the hottest chick in school to be in my corner when I arrive at McKinley in a few weeks."

Santana flinched. She knew that the blonde was joking but the compliment sounded different out of her mouth, "Flattery is not going to work either."

"It's not?"

"No, cause I already know that I'm the hottest bitch around. I don't need you to tell me."

"That's true," Quinn shrugged a shoulder, "To be honest, if I wasn't fresh new meat then Puck would probably be humping your leg right now instead of mine."

Santana let out a laugh, surprised at the comment that left the girl's mouth, "Stop it. It's not working."

"I'll just have to keep trying then," Quinn smirked.

Santana noticed the blonde's hazel eyes and felt like she needed to keep contact with them at all times, "Persistence doesn't seem to fit you."

"How would you possibly know that?" Quinn leaned into her and Santana sighed, knowing immediately that she had to make this blonde bitch her friend.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here's a little more in gratitude to all of those who are reading this story. Thank you so much for the comments and follows and everything. Please excuse any mistakes.**

Santana stopped herself from staring at Quinn as the blonde walked down the cafeteria working the room. They were in school but Quinn had been treating every chance like it was some sort of networking opportunity. She was working her way up the social ladder in the first week of school being back on, and Santana was involuntarily helping her.

For some reason, now Quinn was associating herself with her even though Santana had barely talked to her.

"You're staring." Brittany's teasing voice brought her out of her thoughts.

"Correction, I'm glaring," Santana said as she popped a tater-tot into her mouth, immediately cringing once she realized that that was going to be her only food for the day. These cheerleading diets were killing her.

"Still staring." Brittany always could look straight through her and understand her more than she could understand herself. It was weird sometimes how she just seemed to know, but Santana didn't mind, "Why do you hate her so much?"

Maybe she didn't know her that much. Santana smiled to herself as she pushed her lunch tray away from her, "I don't hate her. I _hate_ Berry. I _dislike_ Fabray."

"Why?" Brittany rested her head on side of her wrist as she watched Quinn socialize, "She's pretty and smart and nice-"

"Yeah yeah yeah, but that doesn't mean that I have to like her." Santana folded her arms, "Why is everyone so obsessed with her? She's not that great."

"Who's not that great?" Quinn's voice suddenly asked as she slipped into a seat next to the Latina.

"You," Santana said barely missing a beat. She watched as Quinn's eyebrows shot up before the girl regathered herself and smiled.

"Since we're already talking about me, I guess I can bring up the great news," Quinn waited a moment, for dramatics, "I got put on the cheerleading team."

"The Cheerios?" Brittany asked excitedly. She was always happy for more people to join the team.

"Yeah." Quinn responded positively to Brittany's excitement, "Captain spot."

"Wait, the captain's spot? You just got put on." Santana had been gunning for that spot for awhile and now she was sure that Sue was keeping it away from her because of a race issue.

"It's pretty crazy, right?" Quinn looked at Santana expectedly and flinched as Santana stood up.

Santana stumbled over her words, anger trying to control her voice, "This is bullshit! That spot was mine."

She must have said that louder than she had wanted to as people started to look over.

Quinn looked around before responding with a low voice, "I was obviously more qualified. Sue told me herself."

"Well, she'd obviously wrong."

Quinn gave a cheeky smile, "She couldn't be far from it."

Santana opened her mouth to talk the blonde down a few steps but she didn't know much about her to do so. Maybe she _was_ more "qualified." She wanted to push her buttons and make her upset as Santana felt, but the brunette didn't know any of them. She wanted to hit her but Quinn was so goddamn pretty.

So she stalked off, out of the cafeteria and into the hallways. This wasn't over. Quinn couldn't just come in here and take over. She couldn't come in here and change everything.

 **XXXX**

Santana used to really enjoy cheer practice, but now with Quinn bossing everyone around every day, it was a drag. She didn't make it easy for Quinn, rolling her eyes and taking her time to the spots she was ordered to. However, it was exhausting pouting at every practice, so Santana thought of another plan.

While was Quinn was distracted telling one of the cheerleaders about how terrible her dismount was, Santana strolled over to Brittany who was folding origami on a bench.

"I have an idea." Santana said once she approached her.

Brittany looked up, unimpressed, "About what?"

"About this Quinn problem." Santana sat next to Brittany and looked around to make sure that no one was listening, "Are you in or are you out?"

Brittany set down her origami, "Of course I'm in but you have to tell me what your plan is first."

"Look around, Britt." Santana gestured at the rest of the Cheerios, some were being yelled at by Quinn while others were trying and failing to practice the routine, "Remember when cheerleading use to be fun? Now everyone is on the verge of crying. And Coach isn't even here."

Brittany took a moment to look around before scrunching up her face, "I guess you're right. It's not that fun anymore. But Quinn is just trying to make us good."

"Or is she?" Santana pointed in front of them, "Look over there. She literally just made that girl cry. How is crying suppose to make us do better?"

Brittany shrugged, "She said she was going to shape us into being as good as her."

"But she's not even that good." Santana lied. Quinn seemed to be good at everything.

She was good at everything from academics to cheerleading. Santana had never seen a girl get that much air in a dismount like that girl had. She was a hard worker and it was understandable that she was working the team hard as well, she just wanted them to be the best.

The thing about Quinn was that even when she was working the team to the bone she was with them working just as hard. Even on the hottest of days when Santana could barely run, Quinn was right there leading the group. It was really admirable.

And on those days, when Santana complained the most and (in her opinion) gave her best material, Quinn always laughed. Sure it annoyed the blonde, but she ended up always laughing with Santana or cracking a joke back at her. It was nice to hear her laugh after a tough day of practice and to see her smile when Santana couldn't bring herself to.

In its own sort of way, it was nice having Quinn around.

Santana cleared her throat, bringing her back from reality. She wasn't here for that kind of thing, she was here to be the best and right now she needed to remember her plan, "Look around, Britt. Quinn taking the fun out of cheerleading."

Brittany sighed, "I guess you're right. You can't spell cheerleading without fun."

"I mean, you can but yeah." Santana leaned in and lowered her voice, "Now we just gotta get the whole team on our side and then we can start a coup."

Brittany scrunched up her face.

"Not like a bird." Santana clarified, "More like we'll overthrow her."

Brittany's face didn't change but she nodded, "Okay, Sanny. If you say so."

Santana rose to her feet and encouraged Brittany to follow, "Now go and spread the word to everyone except for Quinn."

Brittany nodded and headed towards the girls who were on the verge of tears, while Santana had to stop herself from maniacally laughing.

 _Hopefully_ , she thought, _this goes according to plan._


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Santana!" A voice screamed down the hallway in the direction of the referred girl.

Santana closed her locker slowly, already prepared for the confrontation. Honestly, she had been ready for this three days ago when she had finally convinced Sue to bump Quinn down to co-captain.

It had taken a total of three months before Santana had convinced the entire team to go against Quinn. The blonde had sunk her claws deep in those girls and it took a lot of blackmailing to get them to be in favor of Santana.

Brittany had also switched sides a total of seven times during the process, as Quinn's mother had apparently cooked "the best cookies ever! That makes Quinn cool by association."

Santana had to get the whole team to complain to Sue about Quinn's leadership skills and refuse to work with her. And for some reason, it actually worked. If there was a job to create mutiny within teams, Santana would put this plan on her resume.

Quinn stormed up to Santana, pushing a poor freshman out of her way, "You sneaky bitch."

"Excuse me?" Santana felt herself smile, an involuntary reaction to hearing Quinn curse.

"You have some Goddamn nerve!" Quinn just about stomped her foot.

Santana felt delighted that Quinn was this upset, "I have no clue what you're talking about."

"Oh, you don't do you." Quinn stepped closer to her, "You got me demoted."

"Oh, you mean with the Cheerios." Santana faked sympathy, "Why would you think that I had anything to do with that?"

Quinn let out a huff, "Brittany told me your stupid little plan."

Santana shook her head. Was there no such thing as loyalty anymore? She shrugged, "If it was so stupid then why did it work?"

"It may have 'worked' but whoever this co-captain is, they won't last longer than a couple of hours once I'm done with her."

Santana barked out a laugh, "You can't be serious."

"I am." Quinn folded her arms, "So who is it?"

Santana waited for the girl to guess and began to get offended that she didn't immediately assume that it was Santana. She was just as good as Quinn, why wouldn't it be her?

With her amusement completely gone, Santana spilled the beans, "It's me, Quinn. Duh."

Santana began to walk away and heard Quinn follow behind after a pause, "What do you mean it's you? Wait, of course, its you. Figures. And to think I thought we were friends. All this time you were scheming to back stab me."

"We were never friends." Santana threw over her shoulder.

"Obviously." Quinn responded, still hot on her heels, "You've been jealous of me since the moment you've seen me."

Santana stopped walking and turned to her, "And what would I be so jealous of, Quinn."

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe my captain's spot on the team you've 'worked so hard on.'" Quinn used her fingers as quotation marks.

"Oh please, Quinn. You ain't shit." Santana began to feel eyes on them which only made her feel more inclined to have this fight with Quinn in front of everyone, "The only reason you even made captain is because you fulfill the stereotypical blonde hair, blue eyes that this school needs to shove into the public eye so that the racists don't shut down the extracurricular activities."

Quinn's mouth went slack and she let out a harsh whisper, "That is not why!"

"What?! Quinn, that's a slur!" Santana said loud enough to make even more people look over at them. One boy looked horrified of what Quinn could have possibly said that Santana looked at him and shook her head, "I know right. Quinn here is just not so PC."

Quinn's face began to turn red as she noticed the crowd around them but pretended as though it didn't bother her, "It's tragic how much I threaten you, Santana."

Santana tilted her head at the girl, "How could I be threatened by you. You barely fill out your Cheerios uniform."

"How would you even know that-" Quinn paused and smiled like she had just found a buried treasure or a secret fortune, "Were you looking?"

"What?"

"I understand now," Quinn got a sly look on her face which made Santana's stomach turn, "Just take a cold show like all the people who get a little frustrated when they see me."

Santana felt her face become warm and she folded her arms tight against herself, "You make me sick."

"Come on, Santana." Quinn moved in closer, "It's okay what you're feeling right now. I won't judge you."

Santana let out a long breath. She wanted to yell at Quinn and call her as many names that she could come up with, but she was worried that someone was taking Quinn seriously. She was worried that Quinn was taking herself seriously.

"You're going to make me fight you in this hallway," Santana said without really wanted to do so.

And from the look on Quinn's face, the blonde didn't want to fight either.

"What is going on here!?" 's voice made them step a few feet from one another.

Santana was glad, this whole reveal not going exactly how she planned, "Nothing. We were just talking."

"This isn't over, Santana." Quinn said as the crowd started to dissipate.

"See you on the field, Fabray!" Santana said as she walked away, not feeling as though she won that fight at all.

 **XXXX**

Warming up this practice was tough. Santana and Quinn were not letting each other catch a break. Someone had to run the quickest laps and someone had to do the most push-ups. They even competed while stretching, which wasn't good for Santana as she almost injured her thigh trying to out stretch Quinn.

However, she did catch Quinn limping after she had supposedly won their stretching competition.

"Okay!" Quinn clapped her hands, "Everyone in a line."

The Cheerios lined up shoulder to shoulder, except for Santana who stayed next to Quinn while secretly shaking her leg out of a cramp.

"Since Coach is away for the day doing who knows what, I would like to introduce our new co-captain. Santana." Quinn sneered through the last part, her eye almost twitching in annoyance.

"I'm sure they already know, Quinn." Santana couldn't help but make Quinn glare at her.

"Just stay out of my way and everything will be fine." Quinn growled out before turning her attention back to the Cheerios, "Let's try a run down of the routine."

They tried a run through and a girl fell straight on her face. Quinn barked out something in annoyance while Santana watched her in amazement. The blonde was really off her game today. Could it be because of Santana?

Santana let out a giggle at that thought.

Quinn wiped around to look at her, "Is something funny, Lopez?"

Santana rolled her eyes and walked up to Quinn, "I think the routine needs adjusting."

"Excuse me?"

"You're excused." Santana walked around her and looked towards the team, "It doesn't make any sense for whatshername to start flying right before the steps starting up. Unless she could levitate, but I don't think that's possible."

Quinn stood next to her, taking a moment, "Well, what do you recommend she did instead?"

"Start her from the bottom and work her way up." Santana answered. It was a pretty easy fix.

Quinn took another moment before sighing, "We'll try it but if she falls again, I suggest you demote yourself to the bottom of the pyramid."

"She won't fall." Santana said confidently before the team started the routine again with the new step.

She wasn't wrong, the routine went off with a hitch.

By the end of practice, Santana changed happily out of her cheer gear. She could practically feel Quinn staring daggers into her back.

"This doesn't mean that you're better than me." Quinn said from behind her.

Santana slipped into her sweats and smiled, "If you mean better looking than yes I am."

Quinn huffed and sat down on the bench behind Santana, "I don't know why you're doing this to me."

Santana turned to the girl, "I'm not doing anything to you."

"You're taking this away from me." Quinn said while looking down at her skirt. She sounded heartbreaking and Santana's mood plummeted as she watched her.

"Stop being dramatic. I'm sharing this _with_ you." Santana leaned against the lockers, taking in Quinn's defeated posture, "You annoy the absolute shit out of me. Walking around cute and perfect but when one thing doesn't go your way you freak out. Get a fucking grip."

Quinn stood up, "Just know that this changes nothing. If you mess up, you're back to the bottom."

"I won't mess up." Santana rolled her eyes and closed her locker.

"Fine." Quinn began to walk out, but stopped for a moment, "By the way, I think you're cute too."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you all for following and commenting on this! School has started back up and my mind has been distracted with it but as a token of my gratitude here is a longer than the normal chapter. Excuse my mistakes and please enjoy!**

Chapter 4

 _I think you're cute too._

Santana wasn't cute. She was a badass and hot and people feared her. She was not cute at all.

But that didn't mean she didn't want to hear that over and over again. It was basically already echoing in her head. It was so loud that she almost missed her house on the way home. It was so prominent that she didn't notice that her mother was actually home today.

It was around 8pm when Santana noticed that she had been sitting in silence since she had gotten home. She had changed into sweats, turned on a reality show and scooted up to the top of her bed. She had her knees tucked under her chin as she tried not to think about Quinn saying that and skipping out of the locker room without another word.

Santana sighed as she stretched out her legs. Stupid Quinn did all this on purpose.

Her phone chimed next to her and she was glad to see that it was Puck. He was asking if she was going to join him at the local party for tonight, which she, of course, would not be since its Wednesday night and no party was fun on a Wednesday night.

Then it hit her. The best way to get over this Quinn obsession was with Puck. He was super available and wasn't ugly.

Santana thought over that last statement, and then once again. She ignored the nausea that started to brew in her throat as she typed out a message to him.

She requested his presence and it only took him 40 seconds before he responded with a "B over n a sec!"

Santana waited with her eyes closed, willing herself not to think about how Quinn lived only a block away. Santana was getting her permit soon, would Quinn want a ride to and from school? Would she make Santana ask her or would she just jump in the car expecting her to drive her? Honestly Santana would drive her either way.

She opened her eyes the second her door began to open with Puck giving her a warm smile.

"Did you know your mom's home?" He closed the door behind him, "She's hot but scares the shit out of me."

Santana rolled her eyes at him, "Please don't call my mom hot."

He put his hands into his pockets and scrunched up his face, "What's wrong with you? You look like someone punched you in the tit."

Santana felt like asking for him to come over was the biggest mistake, "Could you just stop talking and take off your clothes?"

His face remained confused before he gave a shrug and reached for his jacket. Santana watched him as she tried to feel anything other than annoyance at how slow he was going.

It wasn't until he took off his shirt that she noticed that he was ripped. Which was weird. Did he work out or something? She had never seen him do such a thing. The Cheerios took advantage of every single thing that could help them with their routines including the weight room (which Puck clearly sneaks into).

Quinn was absolutely terrible at lifting weights. Most of the time she asked Santana or Brittany to help spot her for a few moments before she pushed away from the instruments in a huff. She would either blame it on the machine being too complicated or that fact that she didn't want muscles like a man. Santana was surprised that Quinn could even pick up her own gym bag by herself.

"Hey," Puck gathered back her attention. He had his shoes off, and his hands stationary against his belt, "Where the fuck are you right now?"

Santana shook her head to refocus, "I'm here. Hurry up."

Puck scrunched up his face and picked his shirt from off of the floor, "Pass."

"What?"

"Not pass on you," Puck sat on the edge of the bed, "Just pass on whatever we're about to do when you're like this. I'm not that desperate. At least not right now."

Santana folded her arms and laid back on her bed, "I must look disgusting if you, of all people, are turning me down."

"I'm gonna pretend that you didn't mean that to be rude," He patted her leg, "Tell Papa Puck what's wrong."

Santana let out a groan, "Do not call yourself that again."

"Are you gonna tell me or not?"

Santana bit the inside of her cheek, letting this situation wash over her for a few moments before whispering, "I think I like someone."

Puck furrowed his brow before letting out a small laugh, "That must be hard."

Santana let out a louder groan while Puck laughed.

He laid next to her and folded his hands on his chest, "So what's the big deal? Is he ugly?"

"I wish." Santana mumbled.

"Is he some really hot smart guy who doesn't take your shit and challenges you and all that?" Puck laughed to himself once more, "Do I know him?"

"No."

They laid in silence for a while before Puck said, "Whoever this guy is, I'm going to need you to stop being a pussy about it and just go for it."

Santana shook her head, "You don't understand anything-"

"You're laying here crying over some guy just cause you like him. Am I'm missing something?"

"I'm not crying."

"Right, cause Santana Hoepez _never_ cries."

Santana sat up and punched him in the arm.

Puck flinched but gave another laugh, "Ow!"

She pointed a finger at him, but felt her mouth smile, "I never cry."

"Now you're just lying to yourself." She punched him two more times before he rolled off the bed, "Ow! Stop it. You're so mean!"

They laughed before jumping at the door suddenly flying open.

"Santana!" Santana's mother, Maribel, flung the door open wide before looking between Santana and Puck, "What is Noah doing in your room half naked with the door closed?"

Puck reached for his shirt again, slipping it over his head before picking up the rest of his clothes and slipping out of the room. He gave the woman an awkward smile though it was not returned.

Maribel stared down Santana before the woman's phone began to ring in her hand. She gave Santana one more look before answering her phone and walking out of the room.

Santana rolled her eyes and laid back down. Maybe Puck was right. Maybe she should just go for it.

 **XXXX**

Of course, Puck was wrong. What was she suppose to do? Go up to Quinn and expect the blonde to not literally punch her in the throat after she tells her that she sort of kind of likes her? There had to be a better step than that.

So, Santana decided to head to school earlier that day, and wait for Ms. Pillsbury to finish her morning routine before knocking on her door. She was early enough that no one Santana knew would see her going to into the Guidance Office willingly, and late enough to not mess up the guidance counselor's groove. She needed the woman at her best.

Santana knocked on the door and waited for the woman to motion her to come in. She closed the door behind her and sat in front of the red head.

After a moment, Ms. Pillsbury folded her hands on her desk, "Is there something you needed, Santana?"

Santana's eyebrows lifted, shocked that the woman knew her name before remembering that they had met before during her first year due to a violent altercation she had with another student, "I need your advice. About things."

The woman smiled and waited for Santana to continue.

"How do you," Santana folded her arms and looked around, feeling a sense of unease saying this out loud, "How do you get someone to… To like you back? Sexually. Or romantically. Or something."

The woman opened her mouth but closed quickly before digging into her desk and pulling out a few pamphlets, "I was actually saving this for myself but I think you may need it more."

"Wait." Santana shifted in her seat and lowered her voice, "Your room is full of windows and I would be pissed if someone saw you give me this. Can you be more discreet or something?"

"You won't believe how many people have told me this." Ms. Pillsbury reached under her desk and pulled out a slim paper bag, putting the pamphlets inside. She handed the bag to Santana who quickly stuffed it into her bag, "Is there anything else?"

"No." Santana looked down at her nails, "I mean. Sort of. I have this-this friend."

"Oh. A 'friend.'" Ms. Pillsbury pretended to play along.

"Yeah, my friend is really into a good friend of theirs and is worried about it cause they are worried that they are… gay or whatever."

"Well," Ms. Pillsbury tried to hide her smile, "Your friend should know that no one will hate them for coming out and being themselves. If she feels like she needs a community to share with we have a gay-straight alliance. It's considerably small but its inclusive."

"They're not a 'she'," Santana looked back up, feeling as though Ms. Pillsbury was catching on, "It's… Noah Puckerman."

Emma's eyebrows rose, "Oh. I didn't know that he-"

"No one does. He's basically in love with Finn Hudson and doesn't know what to do about it. But I guess if all he needs is a club then I'll tell him." Santana gave a forced smile before standing up, "Thanks for the… advice I guess."

Santana left out of the door before the woman said anything more.

She spent all day trying to read over some of the pamphlets. Some of them were useless, like "How to get the man of your dreams to enjoy your presence" and "What to do when you've fallen for an older man?" Those went straight to the trash. With the others, she spent the day reading them between the pages of her textbooks or under her desk.

During lunch, while Brittany was explaining something about Lucky Charms and the leprechaun, Santana pretended to look at a book assigned for class. She read over a sentence on one of the pamphlets over and over.

 _Step 1: Be nice to them._

Santana furrowed her brows. Did she have to be nice all the time? What about when Quinn was being annoying? This sounded like a total drag.

 _Step 2: Be yourself._

How could she be nice and be herself at the same time? Santana slammed the book shut. This whole thing was beginning to be complicated.

She looked up just in time for Quinn to sit down at their table. Maybe this was her chance to try this out.

"Quinn." Santana said, then said again until she caught the blonde's attention, "Your, uh, hair looks nice today."

Both Brittany and Quinn sat in silence, both looking completely confused.

Quinn reached for a strand of her hair defensively, "What's wrong with it?"

"What?" Santana sighed, "I said it looks nice. It's a compliment."

Brittany gave a smile while Quinn still looked unclear, "Why are you telling me this?"

"Just take the compliment, Fabray." Santana opened back her book and stared at the pamphlet. This was not working at all. She read the next line:

 _Step 3: Be confident._

Santana rolled her eyes, she's always confident. This pamphlet was a load of shit.

"My mom isn't going to be able to pick me up today after practice, which means I'm gonna have to walk, which means I have to leave practice early so that I'm still home 5 sharp." Quinn played with the plastic fork that the cafeteria supplied with the lunch.

"Your curfew is trash." Santana said as she read the rest of the pamphlet.

"Sorry that my parents actually care where I am." Quinn snarked.

"I doubt that they actually do but whatever." Santana closed her book and packed it away, "You can just catch a ride from Puck. Britt and I do when we need to get home in a rush."

Quinn looked surprised, "I can just intrude."

"Puck will be super happy that you're getting into his piece of crap car. Besides, I'll be there cause I need to be home early too," Santana looked over to Brittany, who was silently asking her why, "I'm grounded. Not allowed to have anyone over for a month."

"Unfair!" Brittany exclaimed.

"What did you do?" Quinn smirked.

"Doesn't matter. Do you want the ride or not?"

Quinn nodded her head as Brittany started up again about Lucky Charms.

 **XXX**

Puck drove slowly, his fists tight against the wheel as he followed road regulations accordingly. He kept looking at Quinn through his mirror and stepping on his brake every time he did.

Santana sunk in her seat and rested her knees against the dashboard in front of her, "Why are you driving so slow?"

"Don't want to freak out the new passenger." Puck looked back up at the mirror towards Quinn, who was looking out of the window completely distracted.

"Could you drop me off in front of Quinn's? I gotta walk the rest of the way home so that mamí doesn't know that I got a ride from you."

Puck smirked, "She wasn't happy?"

"Let's just say that she wasn't seduced by your flabby chest."

"Excuse me? I'm not flabby." Puck clutched at his chest, "I actually feel offended that you'd say that."

"That was the point."

"Could you both, please, stop flirting." Quinn snapped, "Or just do it silently so I don't have to listen to this garbage."

"You call that flirting?" Puck let out a laugh, "I've only seen Santana flirt once and she made the guy cry."

Santana smiled at the memory. She remembered the guy, she had met him at a game freshman year. He was on the opposing team and was the only guy Santana had ever made a double take towards. He, of course, wasn't her type. She knew that the minute he walked off completely offended and in tears. Some guys just can't take a joke.

"He couldn't handle all of this." Santana motioned up and down her body.

Puck nodded in agreement, "Besides, Santana is into someone else."

Santana jumped into better posture and glared at Puck, "No I'm not."

"Yes, you are." Puck chanced a look at her, "You're acting like you can't tell Quinn. Aren't you two friends by now?"

"Do I know them?" Quinn scooted up in her seat.

"No, cause I'm not into anyone."

"Oh, please. You obviously are," Quinn put on her thinking face and Santana felt her heart rate quicken, "It's not one of the jocks, is it? Like Finn Hudson? Cause he just asked me out and that would make things awkward-"

"Wait," Santana turned around in her chair to face her, "Finn asked you out?"

"Well... yeah."

"What did you say?"

"I didn't say anything yet." Quinn hesitated before shrugging, "I don't know what to say."

"Oh."

"Are you... into him?"

"Who? Finn?"

"Yeah."

"No way. Gross. It's fine if you go out with him."

"Cool." Quinn looked conflicted for a moment before regaining her stature, "Are you going to tell me who you're into?"

"I'm not into anyone." Santana pointed to a house coming up to the left and indicated for Puck to stop the car, "That's Quinn's house."

Puck stopped the car and turned to say something to Quinn, but she slipped out of the door quicker than he could react. He looked back at Santana, a bit disappointed.

Santana shrugged, hiding her giggle before climbing out of the car herself. She waved Puck away as she balanced her gym bag and her backpack against her shoulders.

"Look, Santana." Quinn called for her attention as she stood by the steps leading to her house, "This whole thing with us hating each other is getting old."

Santana folded her arms while feeling a sense of disbelief, "I don't... hate you."

"Well, then it shouldn't be hard for us to get along." Quinn gave Santana a pointed look, "To be friends."

They stayed silent for a moment, staring each other down and waiting for one of them to disagree with that statement.

Santana rolled her eyes, "Yeah, sure. Whatever."

Quinn released a small smile that was almost copied by Santana, "Good. Great. See you tomorrow then."

Quinn walked into her house and Santana let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

The corners of her mouth started to turn up as she began to walk down the street. She wanted to push down her feelings and keep up the act just a bit longer but when Quinn smiled at her like that her stomach would flip.

She would get butterflies.

There was no harm in letting the feeling linger. Just for a little while longer. So as she kicked at a dandelion she let the smile fully take over her face and walked confidently down the pavement.

It wasn't that bad, realizing that she liked Quinn. Quinn was a nice, good-looking girl. Of course, she would develop some sort of crush on her, there's nothing wrong with that. It didn't mean that she's gay or anything. Right?

"Santana wait!" Santana stopped in her tracks, spooked that she was now hearing Quinn's voice so clearly in her mind before realizing that the blonde had actually called for her and was catching up to her.

Quinn ran up to her and began to catch her breath, "I'm sorry. I know I just saw you but-"

"Is something wrong?" Santana looked towards Quinn's house as the girl had run out of it without her bag.

"Yeah. Well, my dad came home early." Quinn continued once she saw the confused look on the other girl's face, "When he comes early, my parents always argue and it gets... I just can't deal with it right now."

Santana bit the inside of her cheek, knowing that her mom was going to kill her if she found out what she was about to offer, "You can just come over to mine."

Quinn looked surprised, "Really? I know you're grounded and I don't want to cause any issues."

"Take the offer, Fabray." Santana suggested as she began to walk.

"Right. Thanks." Quinn fell into step with her and stayed silent until they reached Santana's house.

Santana didn't notice the car in her driveway but did hear her mother's voice as they walked into the door.

"Crap." Santana locked the door behind Quinn, "You're probably going to meet my mom and she's not gonna be too happy that I invited you over but it's cool."

Quinn rang her hands in front of her, "Should I be worried?"

"No." Santana lied. Her mother didn't seem to like Brittany nor Puck which was a bummer since they were her only real friends at school. Who knew how she'd react when she met Quinn, "Let's just rip it off like a bandaid."

Quinn gulped and Santana lead them towards her mother's voice in the kitchen. When they reached it, Maribel was perched at the table looking over documents and ending a phone call.

She looked up and glared at both of the girls, "Santana. Who is this?"

Santana placed her bags on the floor, "Mami, this is Quinn. She's a friend from school."

Quinn took a few steps forward and put out her hand, "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Lopez. Your home is absolutely lovely."

Maribel looked over to Santana, an amused look on her face, before shaking Quinn's hand, "Nice to meet you as well, Quinn. I hope Santana has clued you in on how grounded she is."

"Yes she has and I apologize for intruding," Quinn took a step back and folded her hands behind her, "I was having family issues and Santana kindly offered sanctuary here. It was kind of an emergency."

"Oh, I hope everything is alright."

"I'm sure it will and thanks to Santana, things are a lot better already."

"She is her father's daughter. Always trying to help someone."

Santana was surprised, this was the most her mom had talked to any of her friends. Quinn was a fucking pro.

"You know what, you two go ahead to Santana's room." Maribel waved them off and stood to her feet, "I'll be up with snacks in a little."

Her mom had never made snacks for Brittany, and Brittany came over all the time.

"That's so kind of you. Thank you, Mrs. Lopez." Quinn gave a charming smile.

"And you can stay as long as you want." Maribel smiled right back before giving Santana a hard stare, "Mía, go get your friend a change of clothes. Stop being so rude."

Santana scrunched up her face and grabbed her bags. She barely missed the cocky smile on Quinn's face as she led her upstairs to her room.

Once they were inside, the door closed securely, Santana let out a laugh, "What the heck was that?"

"The Fabray charm." Quinn patted down Santana's comforter before taking a leap to sit on the bed, "Your mom loves me now."

Santana tossed her bags next to her closet, "You haven't tried any of that 'Fabray charm' on me, right?"

Quinn rolled her eyes, "It doesn't work on you."

Santana smiled, "So I'm immune?"

"More like abnormal."

Santana laughed as she reached into her dresser for a change of clothes, "The only thing that's abnormal here is your sense of fashion."

Quinn looked down at her outfit, "We're wearing the same thing, Santana. That's why its called a uniform."

"That's no excuse for what you wear over the weekend." Santana tossed over a pair of sweats to Quinn, "You have bad taste, Quinn. You're almost as bad as Berry."

"I do not." Quinn scoffed, "You know what, I feel bad for that pour soul you have a crush on."

"I don't have a crush on anyone." Santana corrected.

Quinn stood up with the clothes in her hands and smirked, "Yeah, right. I'm going to get to the bottom of this and once I figure it out you won't be hearing the end of it. Now tell me where your bathroom is."

"Down the hall to the left," Santana watched as Quinn gave her one last pointed look before exiting the room. She folded her arms and leaned against her dresser, a nervousness settling in her chest.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Santana stuffed her hands into her coat pockets, grumbling under her breath as she followed Brittany into the mall. Now that it was winter and everything was either cold or frozen, she couldn't get herself into a good mood.

Brittany yanked her into a store with random nick-nacks scattered all over the place and pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket, "Now for the tough part."

Santana was helping Brittany Christmas shop and they were down to the last few names. Brittany had no clue what to get Quinn and Santana would have had that exact problem if she didn't find Quinn's present a month ago.

"I'm sure whatever you get her she'll like it." Santana picked up and examined the smallest book she had ever seen on the shelf next to her.

"That may be the case for you, Sanny, but Quinn is a bit more fussy with me." Brittany began to search around the shop while Santana followed behind her.

"Quinn's pretty fussy with me, too."

"Right." Brittany didn't sound convinced. She stopped in her tracks, almost having Santana walk into her, "Why don't we just ask her what she wants?"

"That sounds like a great idea but Britt-" Santana's sentence was cut off as Brittany yanked her her out of the store.

Santana almost slipped and fell as Brittany ran them into the food court. Brittany's momentum slowed down next to a table and Santana was surprised that the blonde's eyesight was that impressive.

Because there was Quinn, surprised to see them and sitting at a table with both Finn and Puck.

"I'm super glad to see you, Quinn." Brittany pulled back out her piece of paper again, "What do you like more? Ducks or Star Wars?"

"Uh. Ducks." Quinn gave Santana a once over, "Heels? There's literally ice everywhere outside."

"Do you honestly think ice would stop me from wearing these?" Santana watched as Quinn laughed before she looked around the table, "What are you guys doing?"

"We-" Finn pointed towards Quinn and himself, "were on a date but Puck decided to join us."

"Finn was trying to back out of guy's night." Puck began to pout, "Santana knows how important those nights are to me."

Brittany helped herself to a seat and patted a seat between herself and Quinn.

Finn didn't look too happy having more people join their table, "Not to be rude, but Quinn and I are on a date."

"Gross." Brittany mumbled as Santana sat down.

She looked over to Santana with a sudden grin, "I know! Quinn could help us shop!"

"Quinn's on a date." Santana reminded her, feeling a slightly bitter taste on her tongue.

"Barely. We're at the mall. I wouldn't call this a date." Quinn interjected, "Besides, I kind of feel bad for ruining guy's night."

Everyone stayed silent, waiting for Quinn to take tell the truth.

They weren't disappointed, "Okay, no I don't feel bad. But I don't mind taking a rain check."

She gave Finn a look and he smiled.

Santana hated when they did that. They were both being so understanding and nice to each other. It was like they were in an actual relationship and, yes sure, they've been 'dating' for two months now but it doesn't mean that they're _actually_ dating. They were totally faking it. They had to be.

"Good." Brittany stood up, "Now we can go look for a gift for Artie."

She skipped off and Santana looked over at Quinn, "Who?"

Quinn rolled her eyes and said her goodbyes to the boys as they both got up to follow Brittany, "He's in our Spanish class."

"You know I don't pay attention in that class."

After running in and out of a few stores, their next destination was a lingerie store that was way over Brittany's price range. It didn't stop the girl from looking at the entirety of the store.

Santana shifted her fingers through one of the racks, stopping at a dark red two set. She picked it up and set it against the front of her body, "Do you think I could pull this off, Q?"

Quinn, who had her arms crossed tightly against her chest as she looked around the shop, turned to Santana. Then she quickly looked away, "Where would you even wear that?"

Santana pulled the set away from her body and looked at it, "Where do you think, Q? School?"

Quinn let out a laugh, a strange one that she gave when she was uncomfortable. She composed herself and turned back to Santana, "Why are we in here? Who is she buying this for?"

Santana sighed, "You're probably right." She turned to where Brittany was digging through a bargain bin, "Britt, you're not gonna find anything for Artie in there!"

Brittany looked up, a disappointed look on her face, "Are you sure?"

"Yes! Follow me, I have a better store in mind." Santana put down the lingerie and started out of the store with the two girls in tow.

What did little nerd boys like most in this world other than young beautiful bi-curious blondes that follow them around and call them hot?

Video games.

Brittany was amazed by Santana's decision to take them to the big game shop in the mall and after a large hug, the blonde ran off to look around for the right gift for Artie.

Santana took one look around before turning out of the store, "Already bored."

Quinn followed her as they both walked to the store across from them, "Shouldn't we wait for her?"

"We're not going far." Santana looked at the shoes set up at the store's window and sighed. Looked like she wouldn't be getting herself a Christmas present this year.

"For it to be Christmas time, you don't seem to be in the best of moods." Quinn mentioned next to her.

"I'm in a great mood." Santana folded her arms, "Just tired of shopping."

Quinn gasped, "I never thought I'd hear you say such a thing."

Santana rolled her eyes and looked towards food shop cleverly named Dog on a Stick, "That place is grotesque."

Quinn eyed it before smirking, "I dare you to go try one of their free samples."

"What? And die?"

"You probably won't die. Besides, I dared you so you have to do it now."

Santana stared at Quinn, "You're kidding, right?"

Quinn shook her head, "A dare is a dare."

"I didn't think you follow the rules of a middle school playground." Santana sighed, "Well if have to poison myself then you have to do something terrible as well."

"I'm totally fine if I have to eat at that place." Quinn shrugged.

Santana hummed in thought, "Nah, I have something better. See that kid over there? Go take his candy from him."

Quinn furrowed her brows, "That's a terrible thing to do!"

"A dare is a dare." Santana mocked her.

Quinn grumbled to herself before putting her hand out, "Fine. But you now have to go buy an actual corn dog and eat all of it."

"Sure whatever." Santana shook her hand and skipped over to the little shop. Once she bought the corn dog she stood to the side to get a good view of Quinn, "Go for it, Fabray!"

Quinn glared at her before going up to a ten-year-old and smiling at him, "Hi there."

The boy looked unimpressed as he reached into his Skittles bag and popped some of the round candy into his mouth.

She pointed at the small bag in his hand, "Do you mind if I take that from you. If only for a second. I won't even take any of the candy out."

The boy gave her a funny look, "No way, lady."

Quinn let out a huff before looking behind her towards Santana, who was motioning for her to just grab the bag. So when she turned back to the boy she snatched the bag and ran off.

The boy and Santana both stood for a moment stunned before the boy turned to his mother who was not paying attention at all, "Mom! That lady just stole my candy!"

Santana fast walked over to them before the mother could say anything, "I saw the whole thing."

"What? What happened?" The mother asked them both.

"Some lady came up to me and stole my candy-"

"No, that's not what happened." Santana shook her head at the boy, "Don't lie to your mother like that."

The kid's eyes widened while his mother put her hands on her hips and stared him down, "What did you do, Michael?"

"What? Me?" Michael whined, "No, mom. She literally-"

"I'll tell you what happened." Santana copied the mother's stance, "Your boy here assaulted my friend. Grabbed her butt as she walked by. She ran off somewhere, very embarrassed."

"Michael!" The mother scoffed, "What did I tell you?!"

Michael stomped his foot, "You never listen to me!"

Then she turned and stomped off. The mother apologized to Santana before following after him.

Once they were far enough, Santana walked in the direction Quinn had run off, finding her sitting on a ledge around the corner.

Santana sat next to her, 'You owe me big for saving your ass."

"You're the reason I almost got into trouble in the first place!"

"I didn't expect you to actually do it."

Quinn rolled her eyes as she popped a Skittle into her mouth, "A dare's a dare."

Santana looked at the corn dog still in her possession before taking a timid bite of it. She gagged, "It's covered in grease!"

Quinn waved a finger at her, "Eat all of it and maybe you can have a Skittle."

Santana pouted, "Please save me one."

Quinn smirked at her before popping another candy into her mouth, "No promises"

 **XXX**

Santana pouted her way up the stairs of her house. Her cousins were currently putting the Christmas tree together and forgot half of the ornaments in the upstairs closet. She huffed as she opened the upstairs closet and tried to locate the decorations.

She heard the doorbell ring downstairs and sighed. More family members which probably meant more responsibilities for Santana. The one day she'd rather be alone to relax, she was bombarded with things to do.

What was she kidding? She really enjoyed her family. This was literally the best time of the year.

She heard footsteps coming up the stairs behind her and she smiled over her shoulder as she reached up to the top shelf to grab the Christmas decorations, "I found them! No thanks to Luis."

"Thank goodness."

Santana paused and looked behind her. Somehow Quinn had found her way into her house. On Christmas Eve.

Someone must have just let her in as her face was still red from the cold but her coat and shoes were missing. She was wearing an oversized sweater and carrying a box under her arm.

"I'll help you with that," she put down the box and walked over to the closet. She reached up towards the box above Santana and, as she was a bit taller than the brunette, grabbed the box and set it down between them.

Santana took a step back and let out a puff of air, "What a surprise."

"Yeah, I got you a gift and.." Quinn picked back up the box she was carrying before, "Actually, could we talk in your room. There's just a lot of people in your house right now."

Santana's eyebrows rose, "Yeah, sure. We can go to my room."

Santana led the way, leaving the decorations behind before closing the door to her bedroom after Quinn.

Quinn sat criss-cross on the floor next to the bed and indicated Santana to sit in front of her.

Santana sat did as much and watched as Quinn pushed the box towards her.

Santana watched her for a moment, "Aren't you missing Christmas Eve dinner?"

Quinn sighed and pulled back the box, "No. but my dad is. And so is Frannie."

"What do you mean? You guys always have Christmas Eve dinner together. It's where you all have to wear fancy clothes and make each other feel uncomfortable." Santana recalled from the stories Quinn had told her.

"Not this year." Quinn looked down at the box with a sad smile, "Daddy... won't be home this year. He and my mom had a bit of an argument."

"Oh."

"Yeah. And Frannie is at a boyfriend's house so I don't think she's gonna make it." Quinn let out a long sigh before putting on a smile that didn't reach her eyes, "So it was just me and mom and I had this crazy idea to come over and deliver you your present. So mom and I came over."

"Judy's here?"

"She's downstairs. Your mom is always so nice to her."

Santana smirked, "You know what this means, right?"

Quinn shook her head.

"You both have to stay for dinner. And probably overnight. Ten bucks Mami is convincing Judy that you both have to stay."

Quinn smiled a real smile before pushing the box toward Santana again, "Do you want the present or not?"

Santana eyed the box, the obviously carefully wrapped box with a red bow on top. Santana looked up at Quinn, ready to make a joke about it before changing her mind and reaching for the present.

She ripped it open and lifted the lid on the box, feeling her jaw go slack at the contents inside, "Quinn Fabray, you did not get me Louis Vuitton."

Quinn folded her hands on her lap, "I saw you looking at them so I bought them."

"With whose money?"

"I saved up. It doesn't matter." Quinn waved her off, "Do you like them?"

"Do I like them? Of fucking cou-" Santana paused as she spotted something else in the box and pulled it out, "You got me a Paula Abdul cd?"

"It's signed."

"Oh my God." Santana cradled the cd cover in her hands as she eyed the signature. She felt tears welling up in her eyes.

Santana cleared her throat and looked away, "I bet now you're wondering if I've gotten you anything for Christmas."

"It's okay if you haven't. I wasn't expecting anything."

Santana looked back at her, "Bullshit, Fabray, you totally are expecting something."

"Nope. Why would Santana, one of my dearest friends at school, get me a Christmas present?"

Santana let out a laugh, "One of your dearest friends."

"Yes."

"What if I told you that I didn't get anything?"

Quinn jaw set but quickly changed into a smile, "I'd be fine with it. I didn't expect anything."

Santana gave her a look before rolling her eyes and standing up, "Of course I got you something."

Santana reached into her secret hiding spot (behind her dresser) and pulled out the present she had wrapped for Quinn a few months ago.

She tossed it into Quinn's lap and sat back down.

Quinn examined it, looking over the paper and wiping off some of the dust that had accumulated on it.

"Will you just open it?" Santana snapped, feeling a bit impatient and nervous watching Quinn try to figure out what it was.

Quinn sighed and began unwrapping the present, becoming slower with her movements as more of the present was revealed. Once it was completely unwrapped, Quinn looked up at Santana, "How did you find this?"

"Bookstore."

Quinn let out a shaky laugh and looked back at the present. It was her grandfather's book, one of the last and it was even a signed copy. After he had passed away, Quinn would mention him in conversations every now and then.

One of Santana's favorites was the story of Quinn's grandfather's first book which was his only publishing and for good reason. The man was a mechanic and had no reason for writing a book, but he wanted an extravagant way to ask Quinn's grandmother to marry him. So he wrote a book about how they met and fell in love. And at the end, he wrote the words "Will you marry me?"

Apparently, it worked and he was so proud of the book that he'd show it around the dinner table every time he could. Sometimes he'd read it to Quinn and Frannie before bedtime when they'd stay over his house.

He even sold a few copies. On accident, he used to say but the money helped with his wedding.

After he passed, Quinn's father boxed up a lot of the man's things and shipped them off somewhere far. In those possessions was the book and it seemed to be one of the reasons Quinn and her father didn't really get along.

It took hours of online searching and many, many ugly bookstores before Santana found it. Right at the back of some bookstore on the edge of Ohio, right next to a copy of Divergent. It cost Santana $75 but she hadn't bought school lunch in months so she had it saved it.

It was all worth it, seeing Quinn's face right now.

The blonde bit her lip and looked up at the ceiling, "I can't believe you did this."

She let out a laugh and wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand, "This is the nicest thing you've ever done for me."

"Don't get used to it." Santana joked as she stood up.

Quinn stood up as well, "Wait. Should I give you a hug? Or something?"

"Uh," Santana felt her stomach flip, "If you want, I guess."

Quinn thought about it for a moment before pulling Santana into a hug. It was awkward at first, so Quinn squeezed ahold of her tighter.

Quinn waited a moment before saying, "This is nice."

Santana almost missed her comment, as she was trying to keep her mind squeaky clean while Quinn was flushed against her, "Don't make this weird."

Quinn hummed in agreement, "So, how long do these usually last?"

"Okay, so you've just made this weird." Santana began to slip away but Quinn's grip was too tight.

"No! Wait! I'm sorry!" Quinn laughed as Santana tried to wiggle her way out of her arms, "You can't just end our first hug. We have to savor it!"

Santana started to laugh as well as she realized that there was no way of getting out the girl's grasp.

"Wait no, seriously, Santana." Quinn kept them at enough distance that she could speak to her, but continued the embrace, "Thank you for the present. It means a lot to me."

Santana smiled, "And thank you as well. I don't know how you got enough money for the shoes but I won't ask questions."

Quinn giggled, "I love- love your outfit right now."

Santana furrowed her brow and looked down at her attire, "I'm wearing pajamas."

Quinn shrugged, "You look great."

Santana took a moment to consider this before winking, "I know."

She wiggled herself from Quinn grasp and reached for the door, "Now that you're here, you can help me take care of the little brats downstairs."

"You mean your cousins?"

"Yes, the brats." Santana rolled her eyes and she opened her bedroom door, leading the blonde out of her room and back towards the decorations.


	6. Chapter 6

Santana laid back in her bed, letting out a large sigh. Finally, the sun was out and school was out for summer break. Her life was officially stress-free for the next couple of months. Maybe she didn't have to see anyone this break. Maybe she could stick to only family members for social interactions and the backyard to deepen her tan.

The people of McKinley wouldn't care less about where she would be this summer. Puck would be busy partying it up almost everyday with weirdos that Santana didn't want to know. Brittany was busy at some lame summer camp that her parents made her go to. And there was no way Quinn was going to come outside. That girl would live in her room if she could.

Maybe, just maybe, Santana could have a relaxing summer vacation.

Her door opened and she sat up with a smile once her father's head peaked in, "I was just thinking, Papi, maybe we could go out to eat before your shift? Like to that old restaurant we use to go to when I was younger. Or maybe some place closer if you'd like?"

He gave a face that already had his answer, "Oh, Niñita, I was already on my way out. If I had known..."

"It's okay." Santana kept her smile in place. Her father worked terrible hours at the hospital and it was foolish of her to think she could ask any more from him, "Maybe some other time?"

"Some other time." He gave a soft smile before knocking his knuckles against the doorframe, "Besides, there's someone outside who seems eager to spend time with you. Wouldn't want to get in the way of that."

Santana felt her smile fade, "Who is it?"

"Come see." He backed out the room and waited for Santana to join him in the hallway before they descended the stairs.

At the front door, Santana rolled her eyes once she saw the blonde figure standing outside, "What are doing outside, Fabray?"

"It's nice and warm." Quinn folded her hands behind her back and pretended to look around, "Come join me."

"It's way too hot today. Pick another day."

"You said you liked when it was hot."

"Not this hot."

"Come on. You always look amazing when it's this hot. You practically glow."

Santana gave Quinn a pointed look, knowing that the girl was trying to butter her up so that she'd give in.

It of course worked and Santana found herself following Quinn towards the blonde's backyard.

"Are you good at singing?" Quinn asked as she threw her back gate open.

Santana closed it behind her, "Why?"

"Is that a no?"

"I didn't answer the question." Santana stopped in her tracks and gawked at the backyard, "You guys have a pool?"

Quinn nodded her head and sat on one of the chairs next to the large pool, "So you can't sing?"

Santana rolled her eyes as she walked up to the pool. She wished that Quinn had told her about it earlier then she could have brought a swimming suit. Instead, she kicked off her shoes and sat on the edge of the pool, letting her feet sink into the cool water.

She gazed back at Quinn, who was looking at her expectedly, "Of course I can sing, Quinn. Can't you?"

"Yes." Quinn said almost confidently, "Which is why we need to join glee club."

Santana barked out a laugh, "I'd rather die."

Quinn folded her arms, "Don't be extreme."

Santana laughed more, "Have you lost your mind? Are they blackmailing you?"

"Santana." Quinn whined as she sunk into her chair, "Stop laughing, I'm being serious."

Santana placed the back of her hand against her mouth to try to calm herself down. Once she managed it, she cleared her throat, "Why do you want to join the worst club at school?"

"It's complicated. But we need to join."

"We? _You_ can join. _I_ will not be doing this to myself."

"Santana." Quinn whined again as she moved from the chair to sit next to the brunette, "I can't join by myself. I'll look like a loser."

"We'll all look like losers if we join."

"Santana please." Quinn clasped her hands together in front of her and stuck out her lip, "I'll do anything to get you to join with me."

Santana sighed. Seeing Quinn pout made her feel warmer than it actually was outside and she wanted nothing more than to continue saying no to the blonde just so her face would get stuck like this forever.

Santana smirked,"You'd do anything?"

Quinn bit her lip, "Anything. As long as it doesn't hurt."

Santana put her forefinger against chin as she pretending to think, "I don't know, Fabray. I don't think you'd want this _that_ bad."

"I really do, Santana!" Quinn said dramatically, "I'd do anything!"

"Hmm. Okay. I want you to," Santana paused just as dramatically, "Jump in the pool."

Quinn rolled her eyes, "Jump in the pool? That's all?"

Santana shrugged her shoulders, "It wasn't going to take much to convince me."

Quinn let out a soft laugh as she stood to her feet and began to take off her shirt.

"Excuse me?" Santana exclaimed at the sight of Quinn's pale stomach, "What are you doing?"

Quinn let her shirt fall back to her waist, "About to fulfill your wish, Your Highness."

Santana sighed, feeling a bit of déjà vu from the dream she had the other night, "Jump in with your clothes on."

Quinn's face became solemn, "But my dad got me this shirt from Tanner Reef last year. It might shrink."

Santana shrugged, "A dare is a dare. Unless you're fine with us skipping out on the social suicide that is glee club."

Quinn bit her lip and thought it over before nodding her head, "Fine. A deals a deal."

She cannonballed into the water, splashing a good amount at Santana and making the girl scream.

She swam back to the surface and splashed a bit of water at Santana's jeans, "So can you sing or not?"

"I must say, Fabray," Santana put a hand against her chest, "I'm one of the best singers I know."

"So that's a yes." Quinn swam closer and rested her for arms on Santana's thighs, "We need to practice a song."

"This already seems like a lot of work."

"It will be. Especially since we have to audition to get in anyways."

Santana groaned, "Curse you and your obsession with Rachel Berry!"

Quinn flinched, "What? Obsession?"

"Come on, Q." Santana raised an eyebrow at the girl as the blonde shook her head, "You bother her endlessly every day. Ruthlessly. It's hard for me to back you up at times."

Quinn scoffed, "She's annoying. You know this."

"Then why do you want to hang out with her at her nerd club?"

"Because."

"Because you're obsessed with her?"

Quinn sighed and moved to the ledge to pull herself to sit next to Santana, "I'm not obsessed with her. Finn is. He's joining the glee club and I need to make sure she keeps her greasy fingers off of him."

Santana reached for a nicely folded towel next to one of the chairs and handed it to Quinn, "You must really like Finn."

Quinn wrapped the towel around herself, "I just don't like losing."

"That's not weird at all, Quinn." Santana kicked at the water and let out a sigh.

"Do you wanna order a pizza or something? My parents aren't home."

Santana bit inside of her cheek, a small part of her wanting to say yes. She had planned the week so that she could go out with her dad and have a big meal but plans had drastically changed, "Nah, I'm not hungry."

There was a large silence between them before Quinn made awkward movements next to her, "Can I ask you something? You have to promise not to get mad."

Santana looked over to the girl, "What?"

"You have to promise."

Santana grimaced, "I don't know if I should."

Quinn folded her hands back and forth before asking, "Why don't you eat?"

Santana swallowed hard, "What?"

"It's just," Quinn looked towards the water in front of them, "I've never really seen you eat anything."

"That's not true."

"Well, maybe once or twice but that's it." Quinn looked back at her.

Santana looked away, cursing herself for letting Quinn notice such a thing. It wasn't like she wasn't eating, she was. Cheerleading would be impossible to do if she didn't. She just wasn't eating all the time. It wasn't a big deal, but Santana thought that she was doing a good job of hiding it.

"Are you going to tell me why?" Quinn pushed.

Santana shook her head, "I'll tell you why if you tell me what's been going on with your parents."

Quinn's face went blank before she smiled and shrugged, "Do you want to watch tv? No pizza."

Santana nodded, watching as Quinn stood up to guide them through her backdoor.

 **XXX**

Santana skipped across the street, barely taking the time to check for passing cars. Her only thought was of showing Quinn the present her father had surprised her with this afternoon.

She wasn't sure if he got if for her because he felt guilty for missing her birthday this year or because of how well her grades were, but it didn't really matter. A car's a car.

Santana jumped up the steps to the Fabray house and swung her new keys around her finger. She thought about all the places she'd be able to go without asking for rides. She'd be able to put the top down and cruise for miles. She could just imagine Quinn's hair going wild with the top dropped down as they cruised.

She rung the doorbell and slipped her hands into her back pockets as she waited. She raised her eyebrows at the car in the driveway. Quinn's dad must have been home.

Her attention was back on the door as it opened and she put on a polite smile, "Hi Judy. Is Quinn home?"

Judy seemed a bit fazed, her face red and her eyes dazed. She mumbled something under her breath as she patted down her hair.

Santana cleared her throat, "I know it's getting a bit late but she's always stuck up in that room all by herself. She needs fresh air sometimes."

Judy paused before giving a warm smile, "I'll go get her."

"Thanks!" Santana called after the woman as she disappeared behind the door.

It took a few minutes before the door opened back up, and this time Quinn came out. She held an oversized cardigan tightly against her body and looked like she had been crying.

Santana considered mentioning the girl's appearance but decided against it, "Wanna see something cool?"

Quinn scrunched up her face, "Maybe."

Santana raised her hand with her new keys dangling from her fingers. The sight of which made Quinn's eyes light up.

The next half hour involved them driving to 7/11, running a red light and getting lost before they parked at a park to watch the stars.

Santana turned off the car and grabbed her slushie from out of the drink holder, "I officially love driving."

Quinn grabbed her own slushie, "I hope you know that you'll be driving me everywhere now."

"Only if you don't make me drive you to Finn's house. You're gonna have to walk there."

"I wouldn't say that's fair but I'll have to just be okay with that." Quinn took a small sip of her slushie.

Santana bit the inside of her cheek as she looked at Quinn. She had never seen her look so exhausted before and she couldn't help herself but ask, "So your dad's car is back?"

Quinn nodded, "My dad's back as well."

"And it's not going well?"

Quinn let out a sad laugh, "Understatement."

A pregnant pause came before Quinn continued, "Did you know that I like to draw?"

Santana took a moment to think, "No. I don't think you've ever told me. I mean, you do those little drawings for Brittany on the sides of her papers but I thought you were doing those just for her."

"I think I do it mostly for me and Britt just likes to see what I can distract her with from class." Quinn took a pause to sip her slushie, "Now you know. And now my dad knows. He found my sketchbook in my room, God knows why he was in there to begin with, and he told me that I was wasting my time."

"If you like it then how is it a waste of time?"

"That's what I said." Quinn set the slushie down and folded her arms, "He disagrees. Strongly."

Santana hated seeing Quinn so demotivated, "How come you never showed me your sketchbook?"

Quinn raised an eyebrow at her, "Cause you never asked to see it."

Santana rolled her eyes and set her slushie down, "How can I give you a motivating speech about doing what makes you happy if I don't know if you're any good?"

Quinn shrugged.

Santana smirked, "Is your sketchbook full of dicks or something?"

Quinn rolled her eyes, the corners of her mouth turning up, "Of course not."

"That must be why you never showed me it. Just pages and pages of penises."

Quinn scoffed, "That would be gross. I don't draw that kind of stuff. I draw things I see every day. Like people or places or whatever."

"Can't visualize it yet." Santana reached into the backseat and pulled up a fully packed backpack with unused school materials stuffed to its brink. She pulled out a notebook and pencil and tossed them into Quinn's lap before ridding the backpack back into the back seat, "Now draw something."

Quinn furrowed her brow at Santana, "Did you go supply shopping already?"

"No, my dad wants this car to be only used for getting to school and back so he packed a bag for emphasis." Santana smiled, "But what does he know."

Quinn shook her head, a soft smile playing on her lips, "And just like that, Santana's new car was given away to a younger family member."

"Hey, don't put bad juju into the air." Santana tapped on the notebook, "Now start drawing. Gotta see what the whole commotion is about."

Quinn gave a smile then a salute before opening up a page of the notebook.

As Santana waited for Quinn, she flipped through a few radio stations. She would sing along with a song and turn the channels until she found another that she knew.

But after awhile of waiting, Santana sighed, "Are you done yet?"

"I guess." Quinn tapped the pencil on the notebook, "It's not perfect or anything so take it easy on me when you see it."

"It couldn't be that bad." Santana opened her hand, "Come on, let me see it."

Quinn bit her lip and slowly passed it to Santana.

Quinn had drawn a profile picture of Santana, a very detailed one that was impressive in itself. Especially since it was a drawing of Santana sitting crossed legged at a school desk in her Cheerios outfit, hair in a high pony and blowing a bubblegum bubble.

Santana was flabbergasted, "Did you just draw this from memory?"

"Yeah." Quinn shuffled in her seat, "It's not that bad, is it? I'm not really finished yet."

"Quinn." Santana gave her a look.

"Is it that bad?"

"No!" Santana shook her head at the girl, "You're really really good. Like holy shit good."

Quinn smiled, "Really?"

"Duh, Quinn. Why would I lie to you?" Santana looked back at the picture, "You made me look amazing."

"You always look that way." Quinn said softly.

Santana let that compliment wash over her before realizing, "You're totally blushing right now."

Quinn looked away, "I'm not."

Santana smiled to herself as she pealed the paper out of the notebook, "I'm keeping this by the way. Next up, you'll have to draw me a pic of yourself. Then Brittany. Then all three of us. Then my car."

"I'm going to have to start charging you."

Santana laughed as she looked at the drawing once more before folding it carefully and putting it into her glove compartment. She sat back and let silence form comfortably over the car.

"Thanks for," Quinn started quietly, stopping to find her words, "making me feel better."

"That's what I'm here for." Santana smiled.

Quinn smiled back and they kept their gaze for a few moments before she said, "I think my parents are going to get a divorce."

Santana watched as Quinn's smile didn't move but her eyes became glossed over, "Why?"

Quinn set her jaw and looked in front of her, "They fight every day. My dad's angry 24/7 and my mom is just... drunk. She always fucking drunk."

Quinn's voice was beginning to shake as she talked.

"Frannie doesn't want to come back home because of it," Quinn continued, "She told me that I have to deal with it on my own."

Santana sighed, not really sure what to say, "You're not gonna have to deal with it alone."

"Who else is there, Santana?" Quinn snapped, "I'm alone every day, bringing my mom back to somberness just so that my dad can come back and drag us both through the dirt. I have no one to help me."

"You have me." Santana said, then repeated it once she noticed the look on Quinn's face.

"Bull, Santana. We're barely friends. You keep things from me and I can barely ask you a simple question about yourself without you getting pissy with me."

Santana felt like denying it but Quinn was telling the truth. As Santana had been spending these few months trying to avoid whatever feelings she was developing for Quinn, at the same time she was trying to get as far away from Quinn as possible.

"You're right. Not about us being only barely friends. We _are_ friends." Santana clarified, gripping the steering wheel in front of her for comfort, "I'm like you, Quinn. I like to control things."

Quinn scoffed, "What?"

"I'm not trying to offend you, I'm trying to tell you why I don't eat." Santana waited for Quinn to say something more, but once she got silence she continued, "I mean, I do eat. You may not see it but it's like..."

Santana took a deep breath, never having actually said it out loud before, "I just want something that I can control. I can't control when my parents are home or who I find attractive or the fucking Cheerio team. So I just... I control what I put in my body and yeah, maybe I'm over doing it but it makes me feel better."

Quinn stayed quiet, taking in what she said before asking, "When's the last time you've eaten something? Like an actual meal?"

Santana shrugged, "Monday?"

"It's Thursday, Santana."

"I know."

Quinn let out a loud sigh, "We'll have to be there for each then. Make each other feel better."

Santana nodded but stayed silent.

"I have to suggest that we go get some food."

Santana looked over to Quinn, a little bummed out but understood, "Yeah. Okay."

Santana turned on the car and began to back the car from the parking space.

"Now, you have to tell me who this secret crush person is." Quinn said, in an attempt to raise the mood.

"I don't have one!" Santana snapped as she stepped on the break. She quickly realized how that looked to Quinn, especially right after their heart-to-heart and gave Quinn a smile, "I mean, I'll point them out when I see them."

Quinn smiled, "I'll be waiting. Kind of excited. Is he cute?"

"No." Santana began to drive away from the park with a grumble.


	7. Chapter 7

Santana sat back in her chair, trying to soothe her headache. When she was invited for after school coffee she didn't expect to have to sit and listen to her two friends complain about their boyfriends.

 _Waa, Finn spends more time with Rachel than me cause she's not so demanding._

 _Waa, Artie talks to me like a child cause he lacks the proper knowledge on social skills._

 _Waa, boyfriends are hard._

Santana reached for her coffee, letting out an audible groan as she lifted the empty cup with ease. She looked over to Quinn, who was in mid sentence and cleared her throat.

Quinn slowed her sentence to a halt and looked at Santana, "Yes?"

Santana gave a pout, "Get me more coffee?"

Quinn furrowed her brows, "Do your legs not work?"

"If you want to keep complaining to me then you have to supply my addiction." Santana waited for Quinn to budge before putting on a bigger pout, "Pweeze, Quinny."

Quinn gave her a glare before standing up, snatching Santana's cup from her and stomping to the shop's counter.

Santana smiled as she watched her leave, before catching Brittany's judging gaze, "What?"

"Why are you so grouchy today? No, wait," Brittany tapped her finger against her chin, "why have you been so grouchy these last couple of weeks?"

"Maybe I hate school."

"Maybe you hate that summer's over and you have to share Quinn with her boyfriend."

Santana took a sharp breath, "Wrong." She leaned back against her chair and folded her arms.

"Right."

"Look I just don't want to spend my afternoon sitting here listening to you both cry about your gross boyfriends."

"Artie's not my boyfriend." Brittany gave a slight smile, "Not yet."

"Same difference."

"If it's so bad why don't you join in?" Brittany rested her head on her fist, "You can complain about how Quinn doesn't like you back."

Santana paused, watching Brittany as the blonde gave her a knowing look, "What did you just say?"

Brittany sighed, "It's so osseous."

"The word you're thinking of obvious and it's not cause I'm not." Santana watched Brittany shake her head, "Do you want me to prove that I don't like her?"

"Prove to yourself?"

"Brittany."

"I'm so sick of you all thinking I'm so dumb when I actually see everything."

Santana folded her arms tighter against herself, "I think you have me mixed up with Artie. You know good and well that you're one of the smartest people I know."

"You don't act like it." Brittany scrunched up her face and looked away, "None of you act like it. Which is stupid and I'm probably smarter than all you people combined."

"Britt, check yourself on who you're talking to right now."

Brittany looked back at Santana, her gaze softening, "I'm sorry, Sanny. What he said to me has got my head all messed up."

Santana sighed in response, "I don't like Quinn like that and I'll prove it to you even though I don't need to but I apparently do cause you brought it up."

Quinn returned to the table and set the coffee in front of Santana, "Here you go, princess."

Santana looked at the coffee and back to Quinn, "Thanks... bitch."

Brittany looked unconvinced while Quinn let out a laugh, "You can call me whatever you like but you still owe me like seven bucks for the coffee."

Santana tried not to let Quinn's laugh make her smile as she felt Brittany's stare on the side of her face. Brittany may have been a young Einstein but Santana's feelings couldn't have been that obvious.

Santana's eyes focused on someone behind Quinn's head and let herself relax, "Puck! Puckermen! Yes, you! Come here! Now!"

Puck walked over, a smug look on his face, "I have been summoned?"

"Your party tonight," she waited for him to confirm it, "I'm going."

"Fuck yeah! It's been a million years since you've come to a party." Puck smiled hard.

"Wait, wait wait. It's Friday," Quinn confirmed to Santana, "I thought we were going to have a girl's night."

"Change of plans," Santana said to Quinn without looking at her, knowing that Quinn could probably convince her if she tried.

Brittany began to whine, "But Sanny-"

"You know damn well why plans have changed." Santana snapped, "Anyways, I haven't been to a party in a million years so why not?"

"Okay," Quinn leaned her elbows on the table, "We'll all be there."

Santana furrowed her brows, "Your parents are going to let you go to a party late at night?"

"I already told them I was staying at yours so what they don't know won't kill them."

"Will Artie be there?" Brittany asked Puck.

"Who?"

"The nerd in the wheelchair," Santana explained.

"Oh." Puck gave Brittany a weird look, "I can invite him if you want, I guess."

"That would be great." Brittany looked over to Santana, "Then I could tell him how I feel about him and maybe inspire a few people to break out of their turtle shells."

Santana huffed at Brittany, "Gross."

"That settles it!" Puck stuffed his hands in his pockets, "The Unholy Trinity will be attending the Pucktacular Extravaganza tonight!"

He skipped off, almost knocking a boy off his feet as he did so.

Quinn looked over to the other girls, "What did he just call us?"

 **XXX**

Santana gripped her steering wheel tight in her hands. She didn't know how she got tricked into not only driving both her blonde friends to the party but also Finn. She looked at Quinn and Finn whispering in the back from her mirror and felt her blood boil.

And there was Brittany, who was on her all day about this crush that Brittany was sure that Santana had on Quinn. She was certain that telling Quinn would be "so easy" but there's no possible way when Barbie and Ken were busy making kissy faces at each other in her backseat.

Santana shook her head at herself, realizing that Ken wasn't the best comparison for Finn. He was more like one of those boys from the Bratz dolls. Or maybe from the Monster High dolls. Was there a Frankenstein boy Monster High character? She'll have to ask Brittany later once the blonde got off her back with this whole crush thing.

Santana pushed the button for her window to go down and breathed in a breath of fresh air. These people better not have thought she was the designated driver tonight cause they'd better find a new way home quick.

"Hey, Santana," Finn said from in back of her, "Do you mind rolling up the window? It's freezing back here."

"I do mind."

There was a pregnant silence before Finn's voice rang through again, "What about a little radio? Or maybe hand the aux cord back?"

Santana's hand slammed on the radio knob, making nice, mindless music pop over the stereos. For a few moments, Santana started to relax.

Until she heard Finn again, "Hey, Santana. Do you mind scooting up your chair a bit? It's a little cramped back here."

Santana slammed her foot on the brake, stopping her car in the middle of the road and turned back to him, "How about you don't tell me what to do with my car when you're in it unless you're prepared to hop the fuck out and walk the rest of the way there?"

She waited for him to say something back before she turned back to the front and started to drive again, enjoying the silence she created in the backseat.

It wasn't a long lasting joy as Quinn's voice soon piped up, "I'm sorry about her. She doesn't usually overreact like she's on crack."

Santana rolled her eyes, "Nice insult, Fabray. You read that in your monthly subscription to Boring Bitches Magazine?"

"You know what," Quinn began, even though Finn was trying to calm her down with meaningless hushes, "I hope you fix your attitude before we go into this party because Puck invited _you_ , not some ugly little ogre."

"What did you just call me?" Santana kept her eyes on the road but stayed in the slow lane in case she needed to stop the car again.

"Please stop fighting." Brittany pleaded.

Quinn went on like she didn't hear Brittany's plea, "You've done nothing but have been cracked up little asshole today and all Brittany and I have wanted to do is spend time with you but you've been acting like it's the worst thing in the entire world."

"Maybe it is!"

"Oh please, like hanging around you is a walk in the park."

"You entitled bitch, I didn't want to hang out with either one of you because all you two seem to talk about is your boyfriend's small dicks all day. It's annoying and pathetic and basic!"

"You vulgar cow!"

"You're the only cow here, Fabray!"

"You know what? I hope that little piece of shit crush you like is here at this party so that I could tell him what a fucking joke you are. Hopefully, he'll figure out how much of an indecent person you are before he wastes his time on you!"

"Good!" Santana pulled up to Puck's house, turning off the car but not chancing a look towards Quinn, "Then I'll miss the chance to look like a complete and total loser like you both look every fucking day you can't seem to hop off your boyfriend's dicks. Fucking tragic!"

"You're fucking tragic!" Quinn hopped out the car and slammed the door shut. She stormed off with Finn, who moments after she got out the car followed her.

"Great comeback," Santana mumbled as she watched them leave into the house and felt tears prick at her eyes.

"Why'd you do that?" Brittany asked softly next to her.

"Because I was proving to you that I don't like her. I never fucking will." Santana closed her eyes shut, "I don't want to. I can't."

Brittany sat back in her seat, "Well it's not about 'wanting' to. If I could choose someone to like, you think I'd want to like Artie?"

Santana looked over to Brittany, a few tears spilling out of her eyes, "I just can't like her. It's so wrong."

"What's wrong with it?"

Santana shrugged and Brittany reached for one of her hands.

"The other day, when Artie called me stupid, my heart was broken." Brittany took a heavy breath, "And I didn't want to like him anymore. You always tell me I'm out of his league."

"You are, Britt. You can have any guy that you want."

"But I don't want _any_ guy. At least not right now. And it makes me mad and I don't want to feel so weak but I like him. And I gotta accept that. Even if I can't act on it."

Santana shook her head, "I can't."

"You can't what?"

"I can't," Santana swallowed hard, "be with her."

"Even though what?"

Santana felt her body shake as emotion bubbled up, "Even though I like her. I like her so much. Oh God, why?"

Brittany brought her into a hug while Santana let her tears fall onto Brittany's shoulder.

"This is the worst, B. Why her?" Santana blubbered onto Brittany's shoulder.

Brittany patted Santana's back, "Well, she's not the worst person on the planet. Could have been someone worse."

"Does that make me gay?"

"Does it?"

Santana began to cry harder, "Cake shops are going to hate me."

Brittany held Santana until the girl relaxed, "Come on, San. Wipe your face. Now you can go into this party as a new person."

Santana frowned and leaned back into her seat, "Gayer?"

"No. As yourself."

Santana gave a slight smile to that before turning serious, "You can't tell anyone. Especially not Quinn. Maybe I can get past high school, date models for the next couple of years and then see Quinn when we're both 40. I'll be highly successful and she'll be married, slightly overweight and putting three kids through college, and I won't be into her anymore."

Brittany nodded and let out a sad giggle, "Sure, Sanny. Just fix your makeup.

Santana nodded and opened up her mirror to face her ruined mascara.

 **XXX**

When Santana walked into the party she felt emotionally drained and ready to leave. The people were too rowdy and Brittany had left her side quite quickly. It just wasn't her scene that night.

She couldn't even make it to the drinks before bumping into a solo Quinn.

"Hi..." Quinn looked down, bitting at her lip before leaning closer to speak over the music at Santana, "I didn't mean to make you cry."

Santana shook her head at her, "You didn't."

"I saw you from the front windows." Quinn stood awkwardly, "No one else saw. Just me."

"You didn't make me cry. It's just been a hard day."

"Oh."

"Yep."

"Okay."

They stood awkwardly before Santana let out a sigh and walked around Quinn, hoping the girl wouldn't follow her but having no such luck.

"I won't be apologizing," Quinn said behind her.

"Whatever." Santana walked into the kitchen and up to the red cups and the arrays of drinks.

Quinn leaned on the counter next to her, "Are you going to make me one, too?"

Santana looked over to her, wanting to glare but instead just nodded before putting two red cups in front of her, "Where's Finn?"

"I sent him off." Quinn folded her arms, "I told him not to bother you in the car but he doesn't listen."

Santana started to pour them both drinks, "There may have been a chance that I overreacted out there."

She scooted Quinn's drink over to the girl and they stood in silence for a few moments. Santana's mind went back to the conversation she had with Brittany in the car, "I think I should be honest with you about something."

Quinn rolled her cups between her hands, "You can be honest with me about anything."

"You know this whole... This whole crush thing that I have on this person. Well, this is gonna sound crazy and I don't want this to change anything between us but-"

"Hoepez!" Puck's voice rang behind her making Santana flinch, "And the beautiful Quinn Fabray."

Puck slunk his way in between them and snatched Santana's cup away from her, taking a swallow of her drink, "Tell me you both are joining the party."

"Actually, Noah, we were just talking. Privately." Quinn folded her arms, "So if you could..."

"Not anything too important, right?" Puck smiled over to Santana.

Santana shook her head, realizing how crazy she was for considering telling Quinn how she felt. Quinn was straight, had a boyfriend and would never look at Santana that way. This would have been the most awkward moment of her life.

Puck basically saved her from total embarrassment.

"Shots?" Santana suggested and watched as Puck's eyes lit up.

"Fuck yeah!" Puck grabbed a bottle of vodka, a few small glasses and headed out of the kitchen.

Santana began to follow him but was stopped by Quinn's hand, "You were going to tell me something."

"Maybe later." Santana gave a small smile, "Like much later."

Quinn looked disappointed but nodded.

They went to find Puck at a small table behind most of the crowd, where Brittany was busy chatting up Artie. Once Brittany saw them coming over she gave Santana a hopeful look, which was responded with a solum shake of Santana's head.

"Here's the thing, Hoepez." Puck set down the glasses and poured into two of them, "You haven't partied with me in months because you've been busy with this whole girl bonding thing you've suddenly been into."

Puck handed her one of the glasses, "It's not fair. I haven't gotten any time with you. And yes, one of the perks is that every time you come around you bring beautiful women with you, but none of you stay long."

"Pour me one, too." Quinn said confidently next to them.

Puck gave her a surprised look but complied, "Now before we party, I'm looking for a apology. And not a normal one, I want one that you know I'll accept."

Santana rolled her eyes, feeling a bit embarrassed that Quinn was witnessing how lame she and Puck could be, "Seriously?"

"That's not an apology!"

Santana huffed, "Fine! I'm sorry for leaving you hanging, Suckermen."

"That's more like it!" Puck tipped his drink into his mouth, prompting the girls to follow him.

Santana cringed from its strong taste but recovered quicker than Quinn who looked like she was about to puke.

"Come on, Santana. Three shots minimum." Puck poured more vodka into her glass.

"Same." Quinn put out her glass.

Santana gave her a look, "Quinn..."

"Don't be a party pooper, Santana."

"Yeah," Puck pipped in, "Don't be a party pooper."

He poured her and himself another glass and they all downed them, Quinn taking it better than she did before.

 **XXX**

Four shots and a weird 'Puck mixture' later and Santana was tipsy. Maybe on the verge of drunk. She'd be drunker if it wasn't for stupid Quinn making her eat all day long. Who eats breakfast anyways?

Santana sat cross legged on a chair, originally talking to Brittany but now watching Quinn from across the room. Finn had found her and now they were doing that dumb googly-eye thing that made Santana's stomach turn. Santana wished that Quinn would look at her the same way Finn looked at Quinn. She swirled her drink in her hand before downing it, hoping that it'll distract her away from the blonde.

"So then I told him that I wasn't stupid," Brittany continued her story, "But then he brought up the magic comb and am I wrong for thinking there's such thing as a magic comb?"

Santana looked over to Brittany, "No way, Britt. Anything is possible."

"That's what I said!"

"Anything except..." Santana cleared her throat, a rush of emotion rushing up, "People liking you back when you like them."

Brittany scrunched up her face.

"No, please. Continue your story. It's just," Santana felt the tears forming in her eyes and tried to wipe them away before they fell, "You obvious like Artie and he's too dumb to care. It's so fucking fucked up."

Santana put her face into her hands, trying to hold in a sob that found her way into her throat.

"Santana." A voice literally called from across the room and soon Quinn was kneeling next to Santana, her hand rubbing circles on her back, "Why are you crying?"

Santana just shook her head.

"Who did it?" Quinn's voice was angry, but her words slurred, "Point them out. I will literally kill them for you."

Quinn looked over to Brittany for answers, but the taller blonde looked lost for words, "We were just talking about Artie and then this... I guess she's had too much to drink."

Quinn looked back to Santana, "Don't tell me this is about that stupid crush thing you were trying to tell me about."

Santana swallowed down anymore crying her body was trying to make her do as she wiped at her eyes, "I don't want to talk about it, Quinn."

"You know what, get up." Quinn stood to her feet and put out a hand, "We will make the asshole jealous."

Santana furrowed her brow and looked over to Brittany, whom just gave her a shrug in response. So Santana took the hand and was yanked her to her feet and onto the dance floor (Puck's living room).

Once there, Quinn pulled Santana into her, leading them both into a dance.

Santana felt a giggle rising in her throat, her rush of emotions suddenly feeling light years away, "What are you doing, Fabray?"

"This will obviously get your guy's attention. So hush and pretend to be into it." Quinn informed her sternly.

Santana gave her a look but slowly let Quinn lead her into a slow dance. It was actually kind of nice and Quinn's hands on her waist wasn't the worst thing on the planet. Maybe for a second she could actually enjoy herself.

So as they swayed, Santana pretended that this was more than a friendly dance and they were both single and open to anything. She pretended that there wasn't a bunch of losers and strangers around them as they danced and pretended that the song wasn't changing into a beat faster than the current. She pretended that Quinn's grip was a little tighter around her and that it wasn't platonic the way Santana slipped her fingers through Quinn's hair. She pretended that Quinn was enjoying this as much as she was and that maybe, if she was lucky, she'd be able to kiss Quinn.

"Santana." Quinn brought her back to reality.

"Hmm?" Santana looked up to Quinn's eyes.

"Point him out. I want to see his face."

"Point who out?"

"Your crush."

Santana felt lost. She couldn't even remember when they started dancing in the first place, so she just leaned her head on Quinn's shoulder, "Can't see him."

Quinn continued to lead them in a sway and let out a soft laugh, "Why do you I get the feeling that you're actually enjoying this?"

"Cause I am." Santana mumbled into her shoulder with a shrug. She was starting to feel a bit tired and like she should be sitting down but couldn't get herself to split from Quinn's arms.

And as the music began to echo in her ears, she could have sworn Quinn said that she was enjoying herself too.

 **XXX**

Santana woke up, a bitter taste in her mouth, her face flat against a firm pillow, and in a bed that wasn't her own. After blinking her eyes to adjust to the light, she knew what bed it was from the nightstand next to her. Puck usually let her stay over when his parties were too much for her and he had a nicely made up guest room that was usually just for her.

But then her foot kicked someone next to her. She froze and kicked the person once again.

"Could you please stop?" A voice mumbled.

Santana relaxed, realizing that it was just Quinn. Then she realized that it was Quinn.

Santana sat up, bringing the comforter to her chest once she noticed that she was only in her bra and underwear, "What happened last night?!"

Quinn mumbled something to herself moving herself to lay on her back.

"You got drunk and passed out." Quinn said in a gravelly voice while resting her arm on her forehead, "And I couldn't show up at my house drunk. Noah said we could stay here."

Santana realized that Quinn, too, was only in her bra and looked ahead of her, unwilling to let her eyes wander, "Why are we like half naked?"

Quinn shrugged, "I didn't want our clothes to wrinkle up."

Santana looked over to the corner of the room, where both of there clothes were carefully folded on a chair. She laughed, "You're so anal, Fabray."

"You're too loud." Quinn whined, "And it's still early. Lay back down."

Santana tried not to think too hard as she laid back down next to the blonde, "I don't remember half of the night."

"Nothing really happened," Quinn laid on her side to look at Santana, "Well, I mean, I got into a fight."

Santana looked over to her, eyebrows raised, "With who?"

"Your crush."

Santana furrowed her brows, "What?"

"Well," Quinn made a loud sigh before continuing, "You pointed him out to me. And I walked over to him, demanding that he'd like you. And he pretended to not be into you. He said he was afraid of you. So I threatened him and he didn't bite so I may have accidentally hit him. In the face. Violently."

Santana let out a laugh, trying to picture such a thing, "Wow."

"I kind of feel bad cause you like him and all and what if now I ruined your chances-"

"I'm pretty sure he wasn't even my crush."

"Of course he was and now he's probably even more afraid of you-"

"I don't have a crush on a guy, Fabray." Santana blurted out. She watched as Quinn stopped talking and waited for the blonde to show any emotion on her face.

Well, she did look surprised, "What do you mean?"

"I don't have a crush on a _guy._ " Santana repeated with a bit more conviction but a bit nervous.

"You have a crush on," Quinn took a pause, "a girl?"

"Yeah." Santana gave a sad smile.

A heavy silence fell over them as Santana stared at Quinn, waiting for her to say anything.

"So..." Quinn looked away, "When'd you start being into girls?"

Santana shrugged.

Quinn gave her a look, "Then who are you into?"

"Um-"

"Is it someone from McKinley? Someone I know?" Quinn looked worried, "It's not- it's not Rachel Berry is it? Why does everyone like her?"

"God no, Quinn. I have standards."

Quinn let out sigh, "Thank goodness."

They both let out a laugh and let a comfortable silence come over them.

"This doesn't change anything between us," Quinn said softly, "Well, I mean it kind of does. Now we're closer."

Noises from downstairs caught Santana's attention and she sat up on the bed, "I guess the house is awake."

"Seems like it."

Santana stood up and walked over to one of the dressers that Puck usually prepares for her, "We can eat breakfast and then I can take you home."

"Or we can eat breakfast and I don't go home until much later tonight." Quinn suggested, watching Santana loot through the dresser.

Santana found some clothes for both Quinn and herself and tossed them at the girl. It didn't take long for them to get dressed and as they walked down to the kitchen, they were greeted half-heartedly by a hungover Puckermen.

"You two look extremely happy." Puck grimaced as he held his head.

"And you look like shit." Santana said with a smile as she went over to the fridge and looked for food that Quinn would be into eating.

Quinn sat at the kitchen table, "How much did you drink last night anyways?"

"Not enough to fight anyone." Puck teased as he sat across from her, "By the way, saw your crush, Lopez. I'm disappointed."

"Erase that from your memory cause apparently that was the wrong person." Quinn said with a shake of her head, "Santana's not even into guys."

An orange juice carton slipped from Santana's hands and she quickly turned to Puck, whom was staring at her, "I never said that I wasn't into guys."

"You're into a girl?" Puck asked, a surprised look on his face. Then he looked hurt, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I..." Santana didn't know what to say. So she shrugged.

Puck watched her, before a smile growing onto his face, "You're literally my Lezbro now."

"No, don't ever say that again." Santana picked back the juice and grabbed a few fruit to take to the table, "You're out of food."

She set the fruit and the juice in front of Quinn and sat next to her.

"Is it Brittany?" Puck asked, grabbing for an apple.

Santana scoffed, "She's taken. Plus she's my best friend."

Puck rubbed at his chin, "So that means that it's not Quinn either. Plus I called dibs on her so you couldn't have her anyways."

"I'm literally sitting right here." Quinn interrupted. She reached over and grabbed the apple from Puck's hands, "You can't call dibs on me, I'm a human being not piece of fruit."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Puck rolled his eyes, "Is this suppose to be a secret thing? You being gay or whatever."

"I don't want to label myself. But yes, keep this to yourself."

Puck crossed his heart and Quinn gave a small nod.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thank you all for the reviews! There's been one continually asked question that I wanted to clear up and it's about Quinn outing Santana. Do not fear, this will be addressed in this chapter. Thanks for reading and please excuse any mistakes that I have or will make.**

Santana sat at her mirror fixing her lipstick. Halloween wasn't her favorite holiday, but it did mean that she got to dress up in skimpy outfits and no one could judge her. She looked over to Quinn, who was sitting next to her at the mirror. She, of course, couldn't complain about the holiday when she got to see Quinn dressed like that.

"A party sounds fun and all," Quinn leaned her elbow on the dressing table and rested her head on her fist to peer at Santana, "but does a party hosted by the lacrosse team _actually_ sound fun?"

Santana considered this as she popped her lipstick lid back onto the stick, "Usually I would agree with you but Puck said it was going to be fun and sadly I trust him."

"You know what would be better?" Quinn asked with a smile, "We stay home, your house specifically, and we watch scary movies until we get tired."

Santana wiped at the edges of her lips with a tissue, "I hate scary movies, Q."

"Why?"

"They're scary."

"That's the point." Quinn shook her head but kept an amused look on her face, "I'll protect you, Santana. You don't have to worry."

Santana paused and looked over to Quinn, wondering if the blonde even knew what she was doing to her.

"It's time for an unholy partay!" Brittany screamed as she bounced into the room. Santana turned to the girl, letting her energy carry her mood.

"Tell me something, Brittany," Quinn turned to the blonde as well, "Why am I dressed like a fairy and Santana's dressed like a red pepper?"

Santana let out a snort.

Brittany put her hands on her hips and shook her head at her friends, "You are not a fairy, you are an angel and Santana's a devil. It's basic Halloween costumes, Quinn."

"Then why are you a unicorn?"

"Because," Brittany flicked at the fabric horn strapped to her head, "A unicorn is a mixture of both. We already talked about this."

"Yeah, Quinn, we already talked about this." Santana mocked as she stood up, trying not to show that she was having trouble walking in the Louis Vuittons that Quinn had gotten her for Christmas, "Anyways, let's get moving. I'd rather not hang out too late on Halloween."

Quinn and Brittany gave her a jointed confused look.

"You know, just in case." When no one responded back in affirmation, Santana began to stomp off, "It's scary movie 101, guys. I will not be murdered on Halloween."

 **XXX**

Santana wondered how many parties she could go to in a lifetime. Even as she stood at the one she was at currently and watched a lacrosse boy get cheered on to eat 17 stuffed peppers in ten minutes, she just couldn't get the appeal.

She would usually be drunk by now but she wanted to remember this tomorrow, so not even that could bring up the night.

She sighed to herself and took a small sip of her drink.

"Lacrosse boys are freaks." A voice said next to her. She turned to see it was one of her Cheerio team members and she felt a tad embarrassed that she couldn't remember the girl's name, "I mean, I usually wouldn't even go to these kinds of parties but there seemed like no one cool was celebrating Halloween this year."

"I second that." Santana chanced a look at the girl's outfit. She seemed to go for the skimpy approach as well. Who was she suppose to be? Snow White? Her legs were too tan to be Snow White. The girl caught Santana staring, so she looked away as casually as she could, "I honestly don't even like celebrating Halloween."

"Same. The whole thing freaks me out." This brought back Santana's eyes as she had finally found someone to relate with, "Like how cliche are we for going out on Halloween night, drinking and partying like we're on some slasher film."

"That's literally what I was trying to explain to my friends. They looked at me crazy when I said I wasn't going to do anything sinful tonight just in case."

"I mean, you're already wearing this devil costume which is already pretty sinful within itself." The girl said, a smirk on her face as her eyes roamed Santana's body.

Santana had seen such an action before. Boys throughout her school have never been subtle about their leering and it's never made her nervous or self-conscious. So she was pretty sure that she knew when someone was hitting on her.

And who was she not to flirt back, "You know, my middle name _is_ Diabla."

"I've heard." The girl smiled as Santana strained to remember her name, "I have a feeling that it's not because you're completely pure."

Santana bit the inside of her cheek, "You can say that. By the way, what is your favorite holiday? If you don't like Halloween?"

The girl shrugged, "Columbus Day."

Santana laughed, "I do enjoy having a free day off from school."

"Well, I mean he's also a very important figure in our country's history."

"A mixture of important and embarrassing." Santana joked. Her smile began to fade when the girl didn't laugh.

"What do you mean?" The girl seemed upset, almost offended.

Santana rubbed at her elbow, "I'm just saying he was less of an explorer and more of like a pervert or something."

Now the girl looked offended, "How can you say that about him?"

"Christopher Columbus?"

"Yes. He was an important figurehead for our country. Plus you can't just go around disrespecting the dead."

"Are you being serious?"

"How can I not?"

"He's been dead for centuries."

"That doesn't give you then right."

Santana stared at her waiting for the punchline, before pointing in a random direction, "Just remembered that I have to go talk to someone."

She walked off, setting her drink down on a random table as she searched for a familiar face.

She found Quinn, sitting on a kitchen chair, looking miserable. Santana walked up to her and caught her attention, "Quick question, Fabray. Christopher Columbus, smash or pass?"

Quinn scrunched up her face, "Pass. Wasn't he a sadist or something?"

"Thank you! I thought I was going insane for a moment." Santana grabbed a chair next to Quinn, "You look like you're having the worst time ever."

Quinn shrugged a shoulder, "I already told you how I'd want to spend my evening."

Santana sighed, "Is the offer still on the table?"

Quinn gave a wide smile, "Send Brittany a text and let's go."

Outside of the party, as they walked up to the car Quinn grumbled out, "So is that girl Brie your crush?"

"Christ, Q. Say that a bit louder so everyone will know." Santana glared at Quinn as they got into the car.

"I'm sure no one's listening," Quinn assured while putting on her seatbelt.

"Yeah, and this is the day you accidentally out me to the whole fucking school." Santana rolled her eyes at Quinn.

Quinn bit her lip, "By the way, I meant to talk to you about that."

"Outing?" Santana questioned while pulling out of her makeshift parking stop.

"Yeah. Look, I was watching the L Word the other day-"

"What?" Santana let out a laugh.

"It's a good show and I was doing research. For you," Quinn waved her off, "Anyways, I had this giant realization that I may have outed you to Noah."

Santana sighed, knowing full well that Quinn had done that. She wasn't going to tell Puck at all if she was honest, fearful of the jokes he'd push her way. But he's been so supportive and was actually hurt that she hadn't told him earlier. In a way she was happy that he knew, but it was still shitty for Quinn to do that, "You sure did."

"Yeah." Quinn shifted in her seat, "I'm sorry."

Santana did a double take at the girl, "Did... Did a Fabray just say sorry to me? A gay Latina from Lima Heights Adjacent? Your ancestors must be rolling over in their graves."

"You're not from Lime Heights cause you live literally adjacent from my house." Quinn laughed, "And I'm trying to be serious."

Santana gave her a smile, "Whatever."

"Go on, yell at me. Say you'll never tell me anything ever again."

Santana gave her a look. She was just glad that it was just Puck and not a family member or a priest or something, "Just don't do it again."

"I won't. I promise." Quinn confirmed before sitting quietly for the rest of the trip to Santana's house.

They ended up sitting on Santana's couch in their costumes, watching some horror film from like the 1970s or something.

Santana jumped at a jump scare and held her chest.

Quinn let out a laugh, "It's not that scary, Santana!"

"Says you!" Santana pulled away from the cover that was over them and stood up, "I'm going to make some popcorn. Not because I want any, but because I can't take this stupid movie!"

"Do you want me to pause it?"

"No!"

 **Quinn's POV**

Quinn let out another laugh as she watched Santana walk-off, her eyes wandering for a quick moment around Santana's tight dress.

That quick look was just enough to make her feel guilty.

This has been the routine for Quinn. Her eyes or mind would wander too far and she'd feel like a terrible person for the rest of the day. Santana was her friend and she had no right to think of her that way. Also, she was a girl and that was a whole 'nother bag of worms.

Quinn's cheeks still warm up every time she thinks about the firs time that they met (not like she thinks about it all that much). Santana was probably the most beautiful person she had ever seen. Quinn couldn't talk straight around her. She was sure that she was talking in tongues when Santana looked her straight into her eyes and right through her. And though Santana seemed to hate Quinn at first sight, the blonde wanted nothing more for Santana to like her.

First, she wanted her to like her as a friend which took ages to do. Santana seemed to hate that Quinn was trying to assimilate herself into her life. Quinn couldn't blame her but she couldn't stop herself, getting just enough push to continue every time she got to witness Santana being nice or laughing or acting like she didn't hate her.

Then, she wasn't sure exactly when it happened, Quinn wanted Santana to like her just a bit more than everyone else. She wanted Santana to think of her just as much as she thought of the brunette.

Santana would never budge, she was too unpredictable. Quinn could not get her to do what she wanted or to care for her like she wanted her to.

And then Quinn felt like dying. She didn't understand why at first but then realized how badly she wanted to be that crush. Especially now that it was a girl. She had a chance. But she was sure it wasn't her, so she vowed to help Santana woo this person because she deserved to be happy.

Honestly, she was so excited that Santana had a crush on a girl and not a guy, that she ended up spilling the beans to Noah. She realized it immediately afterward and felt her stomach flip when Santana dropped that carton of juice on the floor. She just wanted to brag to Noah. Show him that she had more of a chance with Santana then he ever would. Santana was an angel for forgiving her.

If Quinn was being even more honest she wanted so badly to meet the crush to see what kind of girl Santana was into. She was already jealous of them and could only imagine how much willpower it will take to not destroy this person for getting between her and Santana.

There was no "her and Santana," she had to keep reminding herself that. She needed to just suck it up and help Santana like she said she would. She was a Fabray after all and she could swallow down these emotions as easily as riding a bike. Even though her heart would skip a beat whenever Santana would compliment her or do something nice for her. She would just need to always laugh it off or just pretend that it didn't mean the world to her.

Santana sat back next to her, a bowl of popcorn in her hands, "Is the movie almost over?"

Quinn shrugged her shoulders, "I'll talk during the scary bits so that you don't get scared."

Santana didn't say anything but did nod.

After a few moments, Quinn recognized a scene that certainly wasn't cheery and turned to Santana, "So you and Brie?"

"Who?" Santana squinted her eyes at Quinn.

"Our team member," Quinn waited for recognition, "The girl you were talking to at the party."

Santana groaned, "I don't even want to talk about her."

"So she's not the girl?"

"Hell nope."

Quinn smiled to herself. Brie was a beautiful girl. Tall, a natural blonde and super perky. Quinn didn't know if she could live up to all of that.

Not that she was trying to. She had to remind herself that this wasn't about her, it was about helping Santana woo her crush, "Too bad. She was cute."

"I guess."

Quinn watched her for a moment as Santana flinched at another jump scare.

 **XXX**

Quinn unlocked her front door, almost bumping into her father once she opened it. They stood awkwardly for a moment before he gave her a look, "Were you out all night?"

"Yes. For Halloween."

"I didn't know."

"Mom knows."

He nodded and she walked past him, heading for the stairs.

"Were you with that Santana girl?" He asked, straightening his tie as his suit jack hung over his forearm.

Quinn stopped on the stairs and turned towards him, "Yes."

"You two spend a lot of time together."

"She's nice." She watched him as he fixed his hair in the mirror by the door, "I was with my other friend Brittany, as well."

"Don't become too dependent on her, Lucy." He gave her a stern look, "We both know how you are. You start calling them your best friends before the thought even crosses their minds."

Quinn dug her nails into the railing, feeling insecure talking about her days before coming to Lima, "That isn't the case here."

"Sure."

Quinn took in her father's attire, "Where are you going?"

"Out."

"Where's mom?"

"Sleeping."

"Does she know you're going out?"

He sighed and stuffed a hand in his pocket, "If I wanted the third degree I would have woken your mother."

Quinn folded her arms, "If it makes you feel better, I was going to call my boyfriend, Finn, and see what he was doing today."

She couldn't help but feel a small sliver of happiness when he gave her a genuine smile at her comment, "The football player, right?"

"The quarterback."

"That's right." He racked his fingers on the front door's knob, "You'll have to bring him around sometime. For dinner."

Quinn gave a shrug.

"See you later, Lucy." He gave her a nod of his head and walked out the door, shutting it softly behind him. Quinn stood there for a few moments, hoping he'd come back with flowers for her mother.

Now she had to call Finn. She rolled her eyes and stomped up the stairs, knowing Finn's schedule by heart and knowing that he was going to ask her to come over.

 **XXX**

Quinn laid on Finn's couch, staring at the ceiling a little bored. Making out was suppose to be fun. That's what the books and movies had told her, but as Finn slurped under her chin she felt more grossed out than anything.

It just seemed like a tactic to keep Finn interested so that he didn't sneak off with Rachel behind her back. Which, by the way he looked at her, seemed extremely likely. Then what would Quinn have?

She bet Santana didn't have this problem. She was probably the one to let guys go and not care about any of them in the least. Quinn wondered if she'd do that to girls now that she had discovered her true attraction.

"Are you okay?" Finn asked as he lifted himself off of her, "You seem distracted."

"I'm fine, Finn." She gave him a smile and a kiss and that seemed to be enough for him to continue.

He was always so easy. Even right now, he was basically panting over her and they had every layer of clothing on. There was no reason to get so worked up.

She bet Santana had this probably all the time. Guys got worked up just by looking at her. Quinn didn't know how many guys Santana had been with previously but she was sure none of them could probably keep their hands off of Santana. She probably wouldn't be able to either.

Quinn squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to think of Santana like that.

Though it was probably more fun to make out with Santana than Finn, not that she was thinking about it.

She was probably softer.

Santana _was_ softer. Quinn remembered from cheer practice on those days of vigorous warmups because Regionals were coming up and Santana needed a stretching partner. Helping her stretch her legs in a completely platonic way as Santana groaned from the soreness in her calfs.

Quinn moaned, realizing quick that she had moaned out a name and covered her mouth with her hand.

Finn jumped away from her, his eyes wide, "What did you just say?"

Quinn racked her brain, maybe she could think of something, "Um..."

Finn stood up, "You just- you just moaned your best friend's name while we were making out."

An awkward silence grew between them.

"No. I didn't?"

"I heard you, Quinn. You said it right in my ear."

Quinn slowly sat up, failing to find a good excuse, "Maybe I should go."

Finn folded his arms, "Yeah. Sure. I mean, we can talk about it-"

"No. I'll just go." Quinn put up a hand to stop him and stood up from the couch. It was deafening silent as she grabbed her jacket and headed out of the door. As she fast walked down the pavement she almost felt like laughing. She was so embarrassed.

 **XXX**

Quinn packed her books into her locker, happy about a grade she received on her English paper. She knew her father wanted her to become a lawyer like himself but what if she could be a writer or something. Then maybe she could do art of the side-

"I'm disappointed, Quinn." Puck leaned on the locker next to her.

Quinn raised an eyebrow at him, "About?"

Puck let out a laugh, "Does she know?"

Quinn closed her locker softly, weary on what he was talking about, "Does who know what?"

"Does Santana know you think of her whenever you make out with Finn?"

"That was one time!" Quinn gasped and placed an open hand on her chest, "He told you?!"

"Yeah. He's my bud. Tells me almost everything. Disappointed you weren't thinking of me-"

"You cannot tell anyone, Noah. Promise me!"

"I don't know why everyone tells me this. I'm a safe of secrets!" Puck pretended to lock his mouth with a key and tossed it over his shoulder, "Question though, can I tell Santana? She'll probably find it hilarious."

"No, you can't tell her. _Especially_ not her."

"Why?" Puck scrunched up his face before snapping his fingers, "Oh, is it cause we wouldn't want us to fuck up the whole dibs thing?"

"No. I just don't want to complicate things for her. We both know she's into someone right now and if they find out it could ruin their chances to connect," Quinn began to walk past him, "Do not tell a soul."

"Secret's safe with me, beautiful!" Puck called after her.

Quinn sat down at a table in the library, letting the quietness of it cool her face down. She was going to kill Finn for telling Noah. Of all the people in the world-

Quinn's attention was suddenly brought to a chair across of her being taken by Rachel Berry.

"Hi, Quinn." Rachel whispered sharply.

Quinn gave her a look, wondering why she was talking to her. Then she realized, from the look on the girl's face that Finn had told her as well.

"What do you want?" Quinn said, begging and pleading in her mind for Rachel not to bring it up.

"We have a glee meeting later today. I hope you don't forget." Rachel said with a smile.

Quinn gave a hesitant smile, "I won't forget."

Rachel gave a nod, started to leave before acting like she forgot something, "Sexuality is nothing to be ashamed of, Quinn. I'm sure if you were willing to just talk to Finn about how you felt-"

"That's enough." Quinn put up her hand to stop the girl. She was going to kill Finn for doing this, "Are you going to leave or do I have to?"

Rachel shook her head, obviously amused but acted like she was concerned, "I'm just trying to give you some advice."

Quinn rolled her eyes and began to grab her things. She couldn't even think of a comeback, but she wasn't going to let Rachel embarrass her in public. She'll just have to get her back later.

Quinn stomped out of the library, bumping straight into Tina from glee.

"I'm so sorry, Quinn." Tina said genuinely before she let out a laugh, "You know, I've been meaning to talk to you."

"Look, okay I get it! Finn told you as well!"

Tina looked around, "Told me what?"

"It's not a big deal and I don't know why you all are making it such a big deal!" Quinn pointed at a passerby and stopped him in his tracks, "You! Santana Lopez is good looking, right?"

He clutched his book bag tight against himself.

Quinn snapped her fingers, "Answer the question honestly and you won't get in trouble."

He nodded his head frantically, "Yes, she is good looking."

"Of course she is! Everyone thinks so." Quinn looked back at Tina, who was trying to slink away, "So, yeah, it's true Tina. Sometimes I think about Santana when I make out with Finn. She's not ugly so whats the big deal! Leave me alone about it!"

Quinn stomped away towards her next class, feeling much better to have said that out loud. When walked into the class, she saw Finn sitting towards the back and walked up to him, "How could you tell Puck and Rachel and Tina about what happened the other day? Weren't you just as embarrassed by it?"

"I _was_ embarrassed. Am still embarrassed, so I asked for their advice-" Finn paused, "Wait, I didn't tell Tina."

"Someone must have told her cause she knows."

"Rachel and Puck swore to secrecy. They wouldn't tell anyone."

Quinn swallowed hard. Now she was even more embarrassed than she was before. She slinked over to her seat, next to both Brittany and Santana's seats, and hoped that the desk would swallow her whole.

And as she slowly unpacked what she needed for the class she realized she forgot her pen in her locker.

Seemingly to have read Quinn's mind, Santana reached over and placed a pen on the desk and whispered, "For punishment for outing me to Puck you will now have to write in purple pen for the entire class. And we have a written test today."

Quinn gave her the best smile she could, "The punishment fits the crime."

Santana smiled at her joke before turning forward towards the board while Quinn sunk into her chair.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: In celebration of me finally finishing my assignments, I will now give you a fairly long chapter. Hopefully I will have another chapter out soon. Especially now that I don't have any excuse not to write lol.**

 **Any mistakes you see below are mine. Please enjoy!**

Santana didn't like being out of the loop. She liked knowing almost everything about the people around her and was always caught up on their lives and secrets. Whether they knew she knew or not.

But she could tell, by the way the glee kids were acting today, they knew something that she didn't.

She had caught a few of them looking over at her and turning away once she spotted them. It happened four times and was infuriating.

And she was sure that Quinn had something to do with it. The blonde was sitting in the corner, away from anyone and pretending to read a novel. And Finn was sitting next to Rachel of all people.

Santana crossed her arms and tapped her foot against the chair in front of her.

The occupant of the chair, Tina, turned around, "Could you not... do that? Please?"

"What's everyone's problem today?" Santana asked.

Tina gave a weird smile and shrugged, "You should ask Quinn."

Santana gave her a glare, "I'm not asking Quinn. I'm asking you."

Tina's smile faded and she swallowed hard, "I kind of feel weird saying anything to you."

"Saying what to me?"

"Just that... I mean... I don't know if I should-"

"Spit it the fuck out, Tina."

"I shouldn't, Santana. It's supposed to be a secret-"

"A secret to who? Everybody knows."

"Except for you."

"Except for me." Santana confirmed slowly as if she was talking to a small child.

Tina took a deep breath and got that look in her eye, "You didn't hear it from me but-"

"No, Tina! Goddammit!" Quinn stood up from her chair from across the room and motioned at Santana, "Santana, come here."

Santana sat stunned, not use to Quinn's outside voice inside school. It seemed as though the room wasn't use to it either, going completely silent to look over at Quinn.

Quinn stomped out of the room and after a few moments so did Santana, only to stop a few steps outside of the choir room and into the empty hallway.

"What's wrong," Santana asked, "Did I... do something?"

"No, it's not you. It's Tina. And Finn. And me." Quinn leaned against the wall and looked up to the ceiling, "I did something a little embarrassing and now everyone knows."

Santana leaned on the wall next to her, "Not everyone."

"Right. I just can't have Tina tell you. You have to... you have to hear it from me." Quinn looked over to Santana, cringing as she talked, "Just don't laugh. And I don't want it to make things between us weird. I mean, we're friends now. Really close friends and I don't want to mess that up. I mean, yeah, we do fight sometimes but that isn't going to stop us from being friends. I'm not, like afraid that you're going to use this against me. I guess, in a way I kind of am. But you can't now that everyone already knows about it-"

"Q, stop." Santana couldn't stop a smile from spreading on her face. Quinn was usually very picky about the things she said so it was cute to hear her ramble, "Just tell me."

Quinn looked away, "Well... so Finn and I, the other day were... kissing. Making out."

"Gross."

"Yeah. Okay, so we were making out and my mind slipped away. To other things. To a past cheer practice."

"Which one?"

"Doesn't matter. One before Nationals. Like a week before. It was a Thursday. I don't know. Anyways, I was brought back to that. Do you remember how sore we were that week?"

"How I can I forget. My thighs and my ass were literally on fire for the rest of that month. I couldn't even sit down properly."

Quinn paused, "Same. So I was thinking back to when we were helping each other stretch. It was helpful."

Santana nodded at her to continue.

"I don't even know how to say it." Quinn said mostly to herself, "So, for Finn, he thinks of the time he hit a mailman to cool down when we're making out."

"That's... weird."

"Okay. Well for me, to get into the mood I have to picture certain things."

"Kind of sad that you have to get yourself in the mood while you're with Finn." Santana observed, "Its actually kind of funny. Why do you even date this guy, Quinn?"

"Yeah, well, okay so now you're going off topic." Quinn clicked her tongue, "So I was thinking about... us stretching while Finn and I were making out and I may have, accidentally, moaned a name that wasn't his. And now everyone knows and now you know. So that's it."

An awkward silence fell over them as Santana went over what Quinn had said, trying not to take what Quinn had told her out of context, "So, just to get this straight, you moaned out a name while making out with Finn?"

"Yes."

"And I'm assuming, since I'm the last to know about this, it was my name?"

"Well," Quinn began to deny before sighing and looking down, "Yes."

Santana nodded her head in understanding and looked away not sure what to do with this new information. She had to stop herself from thinking anything of it. Quinn was obviously a very complicated person and this situation couldn't be as simple as _Quinn thinks of me to get herself hot which means she must be into me_.

She had to get herself together and try to make Quinn not feel bad for doing the gayest thing Santana had heard all day. And after, when Santana was by herself, she could explore this topic to a deeper level.

"Okay." Santana drew out and folded her arms, "Are people giving you a tough time about it?"

Quinn shrugged, "I haven't given them the chance."

"If you want, I can take you home early. Drop you off so that you can be alone. Away from everyone for awhile."

Quinn gave a small smile, "That would be nice."

"Cool. Stay here. I'll get your things." Santana gave her one last reassuring smile before turning back to head into the room.

As she went for Quinn's she tried not to think of this situation as anything other than her just saving a friend from an embarrassing moment. She also tried not to start laughing at how hilarious the situation was.

And she made herself not get her hopes up. Because Quinn didn't actually like her like that. She thought she was hot. Which she was. So there's no big deal here.

It wasn't until after she was done packing Quinn's things and walked towards her own chair did she notice that most of the room was staring at her.

"Is Quinn okay?" Rachel asked. She almost seemed genuinely concerned.

Santana shrugged, "She wants to go home so I'm giving her a ride."

Finn stood up, "I should probably do that."

Santana gave him a look as she grabbed her bag, "Or you can continue to sit down."

Finn let out a laugh and strutted over to Santana.

"She obviously didn't tell you what's going on. Which I wouldn't either." He reached for Quinn's bag, "Look, Santana, maybe you should give Quinn some space. Besides, as her boyfriend, I should be the one to take care of her. Not you."

"If you were doing that in the first place maybe she wouldn't be freaking out today, but instead you've been sitting here for the last twenty minutes, getting cosy with Berry." Santana snatched the bag back and balanced her own on the other shoulder, "Besides, we both know Quinn would rather be around me than you anyways."

She gave him a smirk and watched his face turn red. She heard Brittany let out a snort behind them and she took that as her cue to give Finn a wave and skip out of the room.

Santana walked into the hallway, giving Quinn a smile and motioning for the girl to follow her. They didn't speak until they got into the car and until Santana began to drive away.

"This isn't going to make it awkward between us, right?" Quinn asked.

Santana chanced a look at her, "Why would it make it awkward?"

Quinn gave her a look.

"I won't make it weird unless you want me to."

They exchanged smiles.

Quinn relaxed in her chair, "Maybe we should stop by somewhere and get something to eat. Like fast food."

"I'm not hungry." Santana reacted quickly before relaxing, "I mean unless you really want something."

"I do."

"Then... we can share fries or something." Santana tapped her fingers on the steering wheel, "So, was it like last year's Nationals?"

"Was what last year's Nationals-" Quinn paused, not saying saying anything for a few moments, "Please do not tell me that you're about to make a joke."

"I'm not making a joke I just want to know." Santana waited a few moments, "So that I can add to my own personal spank bank."

"Your what?!"

"I can't even picture that day being hot, Fabray. Everyone was all sweaty and gross. I mean, if you're into that."

"I'm going to jump out of the car and roll into traffic."

"Dramatic. But I like it. Will be adding that to the list."

Quinn let out a laugh as they pulled up into a drive-thru, "You've officially hit your jokes limit for this topic, San."

"Okay, okay." Santana smiled but bit the inside of her cheek. She felt weird for asking but, "Why me?"

"Hmm?"

"Why was it my name?" Santana looked over to her, hoping to see Quinn smile and give some sort of hope that this actually meant something. Maybe Quinn actually liked her back.

Quinn shrugged, "Don't know."

"Right." Santana looked back in front of them, a bit disappointed, "Must be a straight girl thing."

Quinn scoffed, "Don't tell me you're gonna start saying that. Like if I trip on something and there's nothing there. You can't just be like it's just a straight girl thing."

"I wasn't considering it but now I feel an inside joke is forming here."

 **XXX**

Quinn sat at her dinner room table, staring at her phone. Maybe she should write Santana.

She should clear up things and tell Santana that it shouldn't be awkward between them just because of this situation. Santana didn't really act like it was awkward. She treated it pretty normal. She could be really nice when she tried to be.

Maybe she should just go ahead and tell her the truth.

Quinn picked up her phone and began to type out a message, "Hey, S. Yesterday was super embarrassing but you were so sweet and I'm not sure how I'd survive the day without you-"

She deleted the message and let out a sigh. She began to type again, "Look, Lopez. Yesterday is officially off limits. Don't ever mention it or else-"

Quinn let out a small laugh as she erased the message. She was glad that they didn't talk to each other like that anymore, it was emotionally exhausting.

Maybe she should write Finn.

She shook off that thought and went to start another message.

The light to the room flicked on, making Quinn look around towards the person who turned it on.

Judy gave Quinn a strange look, "Quinnie, hun, why are you in the dark?"

Quinn sat back in her chair, "I didn't even realize it was getting dark in here."

Judy gave her a smile before walking over to the cabinets on the right of the wall, opening the glass door and grabbing a few tall glasses from it. She use to find Quinn spending time in their dining room before they moved to Ohio as the girl enjoyed the seclusion in their former, larger house. The younger blonde use to hide away in there because Russell never thought to find her sitting at the dining table. Nobody really ever did.

But this house was a bit smaller and had more of an open plan to it and there wasn't much seclusion between the kitchen and the dining room. Plus, Judy wasn't sure that Quinn really liked hanging around the house that much. She was always around Santana's house or at school.

"Mom."

Judy turned to Quinn with a smile, "Yes, sweetie?"

Quinn gripped her phone in hands, "Can I ask you something?"

"Maybe." Judy sat in a chair next to Quinn, flattening her dress and sitting up straight. Quinn could tell that the woman was sober, maybe she'd been sober for a few days. Or a week. Her cheeks were rosy again and her hair had its bounce, "It's not anything too bad, is it?"

"I don't think so." Quinn suddenly felt as though she was on a 1950's sitcom, "It's about Finn. Sort of."

"Oh?" Judy blinked her eyes robotically. Quinn could tell that she didn't like Finn, but Russell loved the boy so she put up with him.

"Yeah. Is it normal for me to not... really like him. I mean of course I like him. He's a great guy. It's just that when I kiss him..." Quinn took a moment to find her words, "It's not..."

"Are you trying to tell me that you're not attracted to him?"

Quinn nodded her head and looked for any indication of what her mom was feeling.

"Well, the boy is quite goofy." Judy stated, "Some might find that attractive, but I'm happy that you've developed my taste."

Quinn didn't know how to respond, so she looked down at the table.

"It's alright if you want to break up with him, Sweetie. Your father will get over it."

"I wasn't really worried about that." Quinn knew she wasn't going to try to stay with Finn forever.

"You like someone else." Judy guessed out of the blue making Quinn jump. Her face livened up as she noticed that Quinn wasn't denying her observation, "Why don't you just go for this one instead? Invite them to dinner tomorrow."

Quinn shook her head, "Mom. I'm not going to break up with Finn by tomorrow and then bring... It doesn't really matter, besides Frannie is coming home soon and I'd rather not take the spotlight from her. What day is she coming in by the way?"

Judy gave Quinn a look, "There must be something wrong with this person if you're changing the subject like this."

Quinn gave a shrug, trying to be annoyed that this was the longest mother-daughter talk she's had in awhile.

Judy tapped her chin with her finger, obviously enjoying herself as well, "This person likes someone else."

Quinn's eyes started to widen, "You're starting to scare me."

"A mother always knows, Quinnie." Judy reached over to hold Quinn's hand, "Now I will tell you what my mother told me a long time ago. I will neither promise you that it will be good advice or that it will work but it has been passed down from generation to generation."

Judy waited a moment before giving Quinn's hands a light squeeze, "Just go for it."

Quinn waited for her to say more, but instead, Judy began to stand up with the glasses in her hands.

"Wait, mom. Is that it? How will I know that they like me back? I can't make a fool out of myself."

Judy smiled, "Oh, Quinnie. Just for one day, take a step back and block your father's voice from your little head. Fabray women don't make fools of themselves for love. But you take more from my side than you think."

Judy gave her a wink before exiting the room.

Quinn sat motionless, a little concerned that her mother just told her to make a fool of herself. She couldn't do that.

But maybe she could figure out if she had a sliver of a chance. Just a sliver of hope could be enough.

Quinn could maybe test Santana on whether she would look in Quinn's direction and if she got a positive response then she'll go for her mother's advice. Besides, Santana couldn't completely be immune to the Fabray charm. She just had to turn it up a few notches.

"Prepare yourself to become the fool, Quinn." Quinn muttered to herself, cringing a bit, before standing up to go make a quick visit.

 **XXX**

Santana sat on her bed and tried to look through magazines Brittany left over her house. So much was on her mind that she couldn't focus. The pictures of beautiful people and cosmetic products did nothing for her as she flipped through the pages.

She was interrupted when her door opened and an exasperated Quinn Fabray walked in and huffed into a seat at her desk chair.

Santana stared at the girl for a moment before closing her magazine, "Hello?"

"Hi," Quinn sighed. She looked like she had rushed over and Santana tried to ignore the slight rapid beat in her heart when she noticed Quinn's outfit was a bit uncharacteristically disheveled.

"Why are you here?" Santana tried to sound annoyed but could barely manage to do so.

"You'll never believe this," Quinn leaned in from the chair, "I think Finn is trying to get with Rachel Berry. Or maybe the other way around."

"No shit, Fabray."

"Well, I can't let him get away with it."

"Then don't."

"Then I need to sleep with Puck."

Santana started to laugh but stopped once she noticed how serious Quinn was trying to be, "What? Why?"

"He's Finn's best friend."

"You're fucked up, Fabray."

"I know you two dated or whatever-"

"We weren't dating," Santana rolled her eyes. Puck was one of her good friends but she would never. Not ever.

But she had an agreement with him that they would start a rumor that they were sleeping together freshman year and for some reason it made them incredibly popular in the first couple of weeks. They've been keeping it up for a year and a half now, "We were just... sleeping together. Having sex or whatever."

"Then you realized you were gay?"

"I never said I was… gay."

"But you're into a girl." Quinn squinted her eyes, "What is she like, by the way?"

Santana had a feeling that Quinn had her detective hat on but she wasn't sure what she was going for, "Why?"

"You haven't told me yet, so I was wondering," Quinn shrugged, "So you're totally fine with me going after Puck? To make Finn jealous?"

Santana couldn't always figure out what Quinn was thinking but she could feel that she was trying to get under her skin. No matter the reason, there would be none of that today.

"You're dumb as fuck, Fabray," Santana opened back her magazine and smirked.

Quinn sat back, still not use to Santana's harsh language, "I'm not."

"Look, Quinn," Santana started as she kept her eyes focused on the magazine, "You want Finn to think of you as a catch, not as a slut. Fooling around with Puck behind his back is not going to make you look good to anyone."

"There's nothing wrong with being a slut," Quinn folded her arms, "What do you even suggest I do, Miss Know It All?"

"Make him know how replaceable he is," Santana looked up and said sincerely, "You can have anyone you want, Quinn. Help him figure that out."

"Not anyone." Quinn said quietly enough that Santana almost missed it. The blonde bit her lip before nodding and standing up, "You're right. You're always right."

"All the time, Fabray," and then back to the magazine. Her eyes may have been on the pages in front of her but her focus was on the blonde who began to walk over and sit next to her.

"I'm going to do it tomorrow," Quinn blurted out, "Your plan."

Santana didn't respond but felt the blonde relax next to her before they began to enjoy their almost daily after school routines.

The next day was almost regular, until the end of the day when Santana shut her locker after grabbing her duffle bag from inside.

She looked over and was surprised to see Quinn in an argument with Finn. A very quiet one where Finn flapped his hands about and Quinn squinted her eyes and sighed every five seconds. It was a sight to see, the most popular couple at school being extremely dorky. Santana gave out a little laugh from it, trying not to giggle in case someone was watching her as well.

Then suddenly they looked over to her and her smile dropped. Finn looked pissed while Quinn just looked nervous before the blonde begun walking over to her. Before Santana knew it, her arm was looped and she was lead away by the taller girl.

"Wait, what's wrong. What happened?" Santana asked as she stumbled over her feet.

Quinn turned them quickly into a corner before giving a smile, "I'm doing your plan."

"My plan?" Santana tilted her head and readjusted her cheerleading bag on her shoulder. She was amused by the way Quinn sighed like it was the most obvious thing in the world and tried to not become distracted as Quinn leaned closer to her to whisper.

"The whole getting whomever I want plan." Quinn nodded her head with each word she said while Santana squinted her eyes, "Come on, Santana, you made up the plan yesterday. I've already started step one: breaking up with Finn."

Santana looked around, waiting for the punch line to appear, "I never made a plan, Fabray. You sound crazy."

Santana whispered the last word, almost giddy from the excitement coming off of Quinn. She had no idea what she was talking about but was charmed by the girl's energy.

"Just tell me what step two is." Quinn clapped her hands together and pleaded.

"Look, Q, I'm glad you broke up with what's his face but I have no idea what you're talking about," Santana started to walk away but Quinn stopped her, almost throwing her into the wall. Santana wanted to laugh at how urgent Quinn's eyes looked.

"Are you going to help me or not?" Quinn asked, quietly again and leaning towards Santana in a whisper.

Santana rolled her eyes and tried to think of what they talked about the day before, "Is this the whole thing about wanting to make Finn feel replaceable?"

Quinn nodded and Santana gave a sigh. Sometimes she couldn't figure out who was more random, Quinn or Brittany. It must be a blonde thing.

"Then replace him then," Santana responded, "or don't, just do whatever you want, Q. As long as it makes you happy. If it makes you happy to be with Finn then do that. If someone else makes you feel happy do that instead. Or be by yourself cause fuck it, you know? Makes sense?"

Quinn stared at her for a moment before swallowing hard as shrugging a shoulder, "Yeah, sure."

"Good," Santana turned to leave but not before saying, "Now stop making me laugh at school. My face is supposed to be bitchy in these hallways."

Quinn gave a nod and sent her off with a small smile as Santana wondered what type of movie Quinn wanted to watch tonight when she came over.

But she didn't come over and she didn't for the next week and a half. She had even managed to avoid Santana throughout school. It bothered the brunette a lot and not even Brittany would tell her what was going on. The taller blonde would just have a short shrug and say for her to ask Quinn. Santana couldn't even find Quinn to ask her why she was avoiding her.

It made Santana panic and wonder what she did wrong to make Quinn not want to be around her. Did she say something wrong? Did she accidentally reveal her feelings to her and now Quinn was repulsed by her?

Her mind was going wild and not even a party at Puck's place could distract her. Not when her eyes were glued to the door waiting for a familiar blonde to walk through it.

She brought her red cup to her lips as she crossed her legs on Puck's uncomfortable couch and didn't flinch when someone scooted next to her.

"Why do I even invite you to these things?" Puck asked as he rested his arm on the back of the couch. He eyed Santana until she looked over and gave him a smirk.

"Cause I'm the life of the party." She said unconvincingly before putting her cup back to her lips.

Puck reached for the cup and moved it to her lap, "You shouldn't drink too much tonight."

"Why?"

"Cause I don't think you should." He had a weird edge to his voice and it almost offended her.

"I can do what I want," she made that clear as she brought the cup forward towards her face.

It didn't go far as it was immediately smacked away from her by Puck. She glared at him but it didn't hold for too long as she noticed the somber look on his face, "Why did you do that?"

"Maybe you should go home, Santana." He scratched the side of his face and Santana felt her heart drop, "Get some rest. It wouldn't hurt."

Santana felt stinging in the sides of her eyes and blocked them from the rest of the party chatter around them with the side of her hand, "Why is everyone pissed at me?"

Puck sighed and moved closer to Santana so that only she could hear him, "No one is pissed at you."

"You obliviously are and Quinn hasn't talked to me in… it seems like forever and," Santana let out a shaky breath, realizing that she may have drunk already too much, "if Britt's mad at me too I just don't think I'd be able to take it. There'd be no one else."

"Don't fucking do that, I'm not mad at you." Puck took a moment to look around before leaning back into her, "I just... figured it out."

"Figured-" Santana didn't have the time to ask as she felt his hand on her shoulder squeeze at her to stop talking.

"It took me awhile. Better late than ever but, uh, I know you like Quinn," he felt her flinch at his observation but squeezed her shoulder to keep her quiet, "No one told me so don't worry. I didn't tell anyone either. But like when I found out, I was pissed no lie. Like it all made sense right then and there. The way you were acting around her, I mean it was right in front of me. Right in front of everybody."

"Puckermen-"

"Shut up for a second, I'm trying to be honest with you." He waited for her to relax before continuing, "I gotta be truthful, ever since we were younger I've had a thing for you. I mean you're hot so no duh but you never gave me a chance and I had to accept that. I didn't know how to until I saw Quinn."

Santana remembered seeing Quinn for the first time. It changed a lot for her too.

"I thought I had a chance with her," he shook his head at himself, "Obstacles like Finn didn't matter to me but you're my people and I'd never do that to you. So I won't get in your way."

Santana gave a bitter laugh, "Let's just say if I did like her like that, I would never have a chance. News flash, Quinn's straight."

Puck shrugged, "I bet you ten bucks that if she had to pick who to sleep with between the both of us she'd pick you in a heartbeat."

Santana looked at him, waiting for him to wiggle his eyebrows and make a gross joke at his innuendo but in this moment it was like he was being sincere. Being as sincere as he could.

She looked away and shook her head, "I beg to differ."

He gave her a side hug before swatting at her thigh, "Get the fuck out and go get some sleep, Hoepez!"

Then he stood up and left her to go join the party. Santana sat for only a few extra moments before complying with his demands, getting up and leaving to her house.

 **XXX**

 **A Week and a Few Days Ago**

Quinn walked steadily through the hallway, finding her target and grabbing him away from the conversation he was having.

"I need you," she told Puck as she lead him to the choir room. She, though she never thought that she'd ever need this, needed his advice and the choir room was only going to be free for the next half hour.

"It's about time." Puck said, excitement rolling off him as Quinn closed the door behind them, "So like right here, right now?"

"What?" Quinn sat him down on one of the chairs and sat next to him, "I need advice about Santana."

"Oh." He seemed disappointed but always had a good vibe around him when Santana's name was brought up.

"I've decided to seduce Santana away from that crush she has and I need a second opinion on how to do that."

His eyebrows went up for a second, "Oh wow. You're actually into her." He looked away for a moment before bringing back a forced smile, "Second opinion?"

"I already asked Brittany. She said to buy her lilies. But I'm not sure where to put five dozen lilies."

"Oh." Puck picked at his jeans, "You know, I'm glad that I lost you over her and not Finn. She deserves it. She's good people."

Quinn let him have a silent moment to himself before pushing, "So, what would be the best approach to this?"

Puck let out a laugh, "If I knew how to get Santana I'd have her already."

Quinn sighed.

"What makes you think you can get Santana to look away from this crush-chick?" Puck asked, "She seemed pretty into her. Don't tell her I told you but I basically caught her crying over her awhile ago. She was a mess."

Quinn was worried about that as well, "That's why I'm asking for advice."

Puck folded his arms and leaned back in the chair, "You know I like you, Fabray. Maybe too much. But now I gotta protect Hoepez and ask about your intentions."

"My intentions?"

"Yeah, your intentions." Puck put on a serious face, "You get one sex dream about her and now you want to seduce her away from possibly the love of her life. Sounds shitty to me."

Quinn was a bit taken back, "I didn't know you cared that much."

"She might not think so, but she and I are best buds. And no offense, Quinn, but I don't fucking trust you." He looked away, "You flirt with me, you jerk around Finn and now you want Santana. And the way you dropped Finn was fucking harsh. You think I'm actually going to sit here and help you get into my friend's pants just cause you liked how she looked on a rainy day?"

"I-" Quinn took a deep breath, "I really like her Noah. Always have. Since the day I've met her. I don't want to get into her pants. Maybe seduce was the wrong word."

Quinn tried to search for the best words, "I can't stand the thought of her being with someone else."

"That must feel terrible." Puck said sarcastically with a shake of his head.

"Why don't you sing her a song?" A voice said from the doors, making them both jump hard.

"Shit, Berry! You scared the hell out of us." Puck exclaimed as the short girl walked into the room and shut the door softly behind herself.

"I didn't mean to. I just saw you both coming in here and was wondering why-"

"You little troll, were you eavesdropping?" Quinn asked, a little peeved that Rachel would have the guts to do such a thing.

"I was. But I have no harsh intentions. I want to help." Rachel walked over to them, a soft smile on her face.

"Why?" Quinn wouldn't be able to trust Rachel even if she could throw her.

"I think it's romantic." Rachel shrugged, "Besides, I think we all know Santana needs a little love in her life. She gets a bit cranky sometimes and says terrible things-"

"She does need to get laid." Puck observed out loud. He then turned to Quinn, "Fine. You can get in there, but if you fuck her around like you did to Finn I will find a girl who is bigger than you and have her kick you straight in the ovaries."

"I'm not trying to just sleep with her." Quinn said sternly, standing up from her chair, "I care about Santana deeply and I would like to replace her current crush with myself."

"You _care_ for her deeply? What does that even mean?" Puck scrunched up his face.

"I think she's trying to say that she in love with Santana which I totally support."

"Love?" Puck smiled, "You're in love with Santana?"

Quinn's eyes widened, "I never said that I was in love with her. That's big a step."

"If you're in love with her that kind of changes everything." Puck sighed, "You can't change love. It's real shit. Looks terrible but real."

"I never said I was in love with her."

"This is extremely romantic! At first, I was listening in so that I could find out why you broke up with Finn but now that I know this- Santana's going to be ecstatic!" Rachel clapped her hands.

"Stop! I'm not in love with Santana." Quinn put up her hand, silencing both of them, "I like her. That's it. I have never been in love with anything in my entire life."

Puck's face dropped, "Well now I'm back on the defense about this."

"You know what? I'm just going with Brittany's idea." Quinn began to walk off but Rachel stopped her.

"You need a grand gesture." Rachel said, "Or a small gesture. That's why I'm thinking a song. Get Puck to play it on the guitar and you sing it. Or play it yourself and put more effort into it."

"Do you think she'll like it?" Quinn looked back to Puck.

He rolled his eyes, "Who knows."

Quinn thought about this idea for a second before walking back to Puck, "Will you teach me how to play the guitar?"

He gave her a look, "Only if you promise not to hurt my friend."

She nodded her head

He rolled his eyes as he stood up, "Bring me that guitar over there. I have history homework to do but I'm thinking this would be more fun."

Quinn smiled, "How long do you think this will take?"

"If you're a fast learner, like a couple days or two."

 **XXX**

 **A Week and a Couple Days Later (Present Day)**

Santana ended sleeping away most of the morning, only waking up to the sound of someone knocking softly at her door.

Santana mumbled something close to "Come in" and jumped into a sitting position once she saw that it was Quinn.

"Hi." Santana couldn't help but say. She missed the blonde and since they had been hanging out every day before she was ignored, she was certain that it was normal.

"Hey." Quinn walked in and closed the door behind her. Once she turned back to the Latina, Santana noticed the large guitar hanging from the girl's side. Quinn noticed her eyes and brought the guitar in front of her before awkwardly sitting on the edge of the bed and facing Santana, "I- okay, so I have a reason for this."

Santana waited for the girl to gather her words together as she was brushed with the sweet smell of vanilla that was missing from her room for days.

"I'm gonna, uh, sing you a song," Quinn's cheeks turned a light pink as she looked down at the guitar and readied her hands, "I've been, um, getting it ready for a week or so with Rachel and well, like, Puck taught me how to play it on the guitar and so I'm gonna do that and sing it."

Santana smiled, realizing the reason on why Puck wanted her to go home early. So that she'd be ready for Quinn the next day.

"Okay..." Santana dragged out, watching Quinn look everywhere but towards her. She knew that Quinn was hanging out with the Glee kids, but she didn't know that it was this much. Especially with Rachel, "But like why?"

"I'm just trying to express, you know, myself, I just," Quinn gave a loud sigh and slammed her hand into the side of the guitar, "Just let me sing the goddamn song, Santana."

"Okay. Okay, I'm sorry. Go ahead." Santana nodded her head for Quinn to go ahead though the girl was looking away and crisscrossed her legs to be more comfortable as the strumming started.

" _When you leave me, the bed is empty and I feel crazy 'cause I didn't say anything_ ," Santana felt her eyebrows rise in response to Quinn's voice. She'd heard it before but not in any form of seriousness. In simple terms, she was digging it. She just wished she knew what Quinn was talking...singing about, "I _wish you would tell me how you really feel, but you'll never tell me 'cause that's not our deal_."

" _When you leave me you take away everything, you take all my money, you take all my weed_ ," there it was again, another lyric that Santana was lost on. Was she just suppose to focus the chorus or something? But how when that verse just came up? Stealing weed was a bit of an accusation, " _I wish you would tell me how you really feel, but you'll never tell me 'cause that's not our deal_."

Quinn strummed a bit before repeating the lyric that Santana guessed that she was supposed to focus on," _I wish you would tell me how you really feel, but you'll never tell me 'cause that's not our deal_."

" _That's not your deal, that's not my deal_ ," she repeated those last two lines a couple of times before ending the song and resting her hand on the edge of the guitar. She looked over to Santana with hopeful eyes, "So?"

"It was nice." Santana said genuinely as she scooted back down in her bed.

"Nice?" Quinn waited for her to continue. When she didn't the blonde huffed as she set the guitar on the carpet next to the bed, "What did you get out of it, San?"

"I don't know, Quinn. Something about weed," Santana reached over to her nightstand for some aspirin and watched as the girl next to her squared her jaw, "What's the song for anyways? Are you auditioning for a solo or something?"

Quinn gave a large sigh and stood up from the bed, "The song is for you, Santana. The song is for you!"

Santana's eyebrows rose again.

"Sorry, Quinn. Just sit down and I'll be serious, okay?" Santana patted her bed with her hand, seemingly convincing Quinn to sit back down.

"What did you get out of the song?" Quinn asked again as she looked down at her sundress and smoothed it out.

Santana felt like it was a trick question. Either she'd get it right and look like a fool or she'd miss the radar completely and look like a freak, "Why don't you just tell me so that I don't get it wrong."

"Rachel said that singing a song would be easier," Quinn said under her breath before looking over to Santana, "It's about how we never communicate our feelings to one another. It's really frustrating never being able to tell you how I feel about things."

"Okay?" Santana tried to recall a moment where she didn't let Quinn express her feelings about something. If she was angry then she was allowed to be angry, if she was sad she was allowed to be sad, "You can be honest about things right now if you want."

"Okay." Quinn nodded her head and wrung her hands in her lap. Santana knew immediately that she wasn't going to say anything unless she went first.

"Fine, I'll go first," she waited for Quinn to relax before saying, "I think it's pretty shitty that you've been avoiding me for like two whole weeks. We missed the season finale of America's Next Top Model."

Quinn gave a scandalized look, "I was working on the song! The guitar is a bit difficult."

Santana gave a small laugh, "Your turn."

Quinn bit her lip and looked away. A few moments were lost as she talked under her breath before she looked back to Santana, "I'll just come out and say it. I'm... So I think I …like you. Like like you. Or something."

Santana squinted her eyes, feeling as though maybe she slipped into a daydream. She must have heard wrong, "What?"

"I like you, Santana! A lot." Quinn said a bit more forcefully before losing all confidence and ducking down, "That's not weird is it?"

Santana's eyes widened. Quinn liked her, that sounded insane but like in the best ways. Not a lot of people even like Santana platonically and here comes Quinn confessing her feelings in song form.

Quinn, the Quinn Fabray, sat there and told her that she actually liked her. Not just friend like. And she said it first. It was a dream come true of a dream that Santana never knew she'd been having.

"You're laughing." Quinn observed, completely offended and ready to jump off the bed and leave again.

"No, no I'm not I'm just," Excited. Ecstatic. Relieved. Santana was never good with communicating these kind of feelings, and as she sat up she went through her personal vocabulary to find something that wouldn't ruin the mood.

Once she found what she was looking for she reached for Quinn's hands, jerking them way as a reflex before setting them back on top of hers and looking into hazel eyes. Then she forgot everything, the words of romance that she was supposed to say to Quinn to reassure her that it wasn't weird.

So Santana decided to communicate differently and leaned in to take Quinn's lips with her own. It was a quick kiss, one to reassure Quinn that it wasn't weird and that she was feeling it too. As she pulled away, she felt Quinn try to prolong the kiss before giving a small laugh and blushing.

"Ditto." Santana couldn't help herself from saying, anything remotely romantic thrown out the window as she laid back down to try not to faint from just kissing the girl of her dreams.

"Ditto." Quinn repeated, moving to lay in the space close to Santana.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thank you all for the comments and follows and favorites! I would like to be constant with my chapters but I like them to be as good as I can make them. Aways, all mistakes are mine but the characters aren't. Please enjoy!**

The next morning, Quinn watched Santana make her breakfast as she danced to the beat of a song. They were probably going to miss the first two periods of school, but she didn't really mind it. They got to spend all day yesterday together, so a couple of more hours couldn't hurt. Plus, why would Quinn bring up school when Santana was in such a good mood this morning.

"How do you like your bacon, Q?" Santana asked over her shoulder.

"Crispy." Quinn felt relaxed as she let her eyes roam over Santana's figure as she danced. She was allowed to do that now. Hopefully, "I'm feeling that bacon is my reward for stealing you away from your crush just in the nick of time."

Santana looked at her for a moment before going back to cooking, "Funny."

Quinn rested her head on her fist, "I can only imagine her face once she realizes that she lost her opportunity."

Santana plated Quinn's food and laid the plate in front of the blonde, "You won't have to look far."

"Are you going to finally tell me who it is?"

Santana tapped her finger on the counter, wondering why Quinn couldn't pick up on this, "Look in the mirror, Q."

Quinn scrunched up her face.

Santana rolled her eyes, "It's you, Q. It's been you this whole time. I thought you were one of the smartest people in school."

Quinn's eyes brows rose, "Me? You had a crush on me?"

"More like have." Santana watched her for a moment, "You're not going to break up with me now that you know?"

Quinn shook her head, "No one's ever had a crush on me before. No one that I've ever liked back."

Santana let out a snort, "Well that can't be true. Anyways, finish your bacon and maybe you can help me finish my English homework before we leave for school."

Quinn stared at the counter, her mind in deep thought before she snapped back to reality, "Wait. You didn't finish your homework?"

Santana gave her a look, "Why finish my homework when I have you around?"

Santana went to look for her school bag, but Quinn stopped her to kiss her on her cheek. Santana stood frozen for a second before letting a grin take over her face, "What was that for?"

Quinn gave her a smile back, "For liking me."

"It's pretty easy, Q." Santana leaned in to kiss her, a bit hesitant. This would be their third kiss after yesterday, which still blew Santana's mind every time she thought about it. Quinn's kisses were soft and sweet and though they were timid, the blonde seemed to be in full control.

It made Santana want to pull her in close and lose herself completely to Quinn. But she knew Quinn enough to know that she should probably take this as slow as possible. It took months before Finn ever got to kiss Quinn, so she was sure this was already too fast for the blonde. The last thing she wanted to do was scare her away.

So she gripped the counter next to her hard with her fingers and gave a small sigh before pulling away, grounding herself enough to pull her away from the daze she always got around Quinn.

"Now finish your bacon and then tell me how Hamlet ends so that I can I finish that essay due today," Santana whispered with a smile before pushing herself away to find her backpack.

Quinn gulped before scrunching up her face, "You don't know how Hamlet ends?"

Santana shrugged, "Does someone die?"

"It's a tragedy written by Shakespeare."

"So that's a yes?"

Quinn let out a laugh.

 **XXX**

Santana stood in the lunch line with Brittany and, for once, decided not to complain about how gross everything looked. She even let Brittany take a long time as she picked out a dessert. It didn't bother her at all.

Puck slipped into the line next to them, ignoring the protests from the students behind them, "So, is it official?"

Brittany and Santana gave him a shared confused look.

He shook his head at them and leaned in the whisper, "Official with Quinn?"

"Oh." The both said in unison.

Santana felt a smile grow on her lips, "I guess you can say that-"

"Hell yeah!" He put up his hand for her to high-five it.

Santana hesitated, "I have a feeling that this high five isn't for something that I'd like."

Puck put down his hand, "It's for hitting that. Before anyone else did."

"What?" Santana scoffed at him, "What gave you that idea, asshat?"

"Isn't that why she wanted to learn the guitar. That's why I learned the guitar. To get laid."

"You must not be very good at the guitar." Brittany teased as she paid for her food.

Puck gasped, "What have you been saying around Brittany? She's never said anything like that to me before."

"Look, me and what's-her-name are official and that it. As in I'm not sleeping with anyone and we're sort of dating or whatever. Comprende?"

Puck motioned his hand back and forth, "Eh. Sort of."

Santana gave him a look before picking out a dessert for Brittany and putting it on the girl's tray.

"Ahem." A voice in back of them said loud. They looked over towards a smiling Rachel, whom, once she gathered their eyes, gave them a flyer, "Tomorrow I am having a Glee party and you all are invited."

Santana cringed while Puck grabbed the flyer to look at it, "You're having a party on a Tuesday?"

"That's the only day my dads won't be home so, yes." Rachel gave them a nod and folded her hands in front of her, "There will be food and beverages to everyone's likings. And music, of course. And games if anyone begins to feel bored, which I doubt they will. I trust that you all will be going?"

"I don't know, Berry." Santana began to say as she paid for Brittany's lunch, "A Glee party at your house sounds like the lamest piece of shit party-"

"Quinn already said that you'd both be there." Rachel interrupted.

Santana folded her arms, not pleased at all, "Did she?"

Rachel nodded, "I think it would also be a great time for all of us to get together and discuss what song we'd want to do for Nationals."

Puck shrugged, "I'll go if you both are going."

Brittany tapped her finger on her chin, "Ill think about it."

That answer didn't please Rachel, but it seemed to amuse Brittany. They all turned away and headed towards a table occupied by Quinn.

"Quinn." Santana caught the girl's attention, "What is this about you wanting to go to some dumb glee party?"

As they sat down, Quinn shrugged, "Sounded fun."

"More like sounded lame."

"You don't have to go if you don't want to."

Santana sighed, "You already said that we would."

"Did I?" Quinn gave her a cheeky smile.

Santana rolled her eyes but felt her annoyance dissipate.

"What song are you guys gonna you guys going to recommend for Nationals?" Puck asked, "I'm thinking the thong song. Classic."

"Like we'll even have a choice." Santana mentioned, remembering how Rachel usually manhandled the decisions for the club.

"I don't think I'll be going to Nationals." Quinn said as she placed a fry into her mouth.

Santana gave her a bewildered look, "What? Why? It's going to be in New York this year."

Quinn shrugged and looked down at her tray of food in front of her, starting to feel like she lost her appetite, "I don't really like New York."

"You don't like New York?" Puck laughed, "You've been there before?"

"I use to live there."

Santana watched as Quinn closed her eyes in pain for a moment, realizing quickly that she never asked where Quinn moved from before she came to Lima, "I'm sure Quinn has a great reason for not liking New York. I bet it smells, right?"

Quinn looked up and gave Santana a smile, "Yeah it smells pretty bad sometimes."

Santana made a mental note to ask her about New York later, "Brittany's been to New York. Tell Quinn about it, B."

Brittany looked up from her chocolate cake, which she was loading with M&Ms, and smiled, "My family and I went on a road trip once to New York but it was on accident. We were supposed to be going to Sacramento but somehow ended there. Can you imagine my mom's face when we got there? It was hilarious!"

 **XXX**

Quinn moved her food around on her plate, trying to remember if she finished all of her homework before coming home today. She was so worried about Frannie visiting that she couldn't remember if she had finished everything or what. Did she even bring any of it home?

She would be freaking out more if Santana hadn't told her earlier not to worry too much about tonight. She was surprised that Santana's simple words had any effect on her, but even as her father and Frannie reconnected in front of her, Quinn felt calmer than she ever could she have by herself.

"So, Quinnie," Frannie caught her attention, her bragging about her life finally at a halt after 30 continuous minutes of it, "How's that boyfriend that daddy always gushes about? You didn't invite him to dinner?"

"We broke up." Quinn blurted out. Everyone looked surprised except for her mother, who looked almost proud.

Russell set down his fork, "Why? What did you do?"

Quinn took a moment to think about her answer. There was no way that she could tell them the truth. Who knows how he'd react. He'd probably kick her out and though she was sure that she'd have a place to stay, she couldn't put that much pressure on Santana.

Quinn set down her fork as well, "I broke up with him because he was pressuring me to have sex. I told him that I'd wait until marriage but he had something else in mind."

Russell's mouth dropped, a shocked expression washing over him, "I'll be dammed. He seemed like such a good kid."

He shook his head and went back to his meal, "Good decision, Lucy."

Quinn couldn't help but feel a little warmth from his approval, a smile graced her lips. It immediately dropped once she noticed the look on Frannie's face.

After dinner, Quinn raced up to her room to get ready for bed. She was also planning on studying Spanish. She would say it's for school but honestly she wanted to be prepared if Santana ever invited her to a family get together. She didn't want to look completely dumb. And maybe she was thinking too far ahead, but it wouldn't feel bad to feel apart of their family when invited in.

A knock on her door made her look up from the Spanish textbook she borrowed from the library. She sighed once she saw it was Frannie, "What do you want, sister of mine?"

"Just to bother you." Frannie walked over to Quinn's bed and sat in front of her, "Also to know why you lied to dad tonight."

"And what did I lie about?"

"About why you broke up with your quarterback." Frannie closed Quinn's textbook, "Mom told me that when he first met them, he was too timid to even ask for a glass of water. You want me to believe he had enough confidence to fuck up your relationship just to try sleep with you?"

Quinn opened back the textbook, "Yes."

"You can lie to mom and dad but you can't lie to me." Frannie snatched the textbook away, "This is college level Spanish, Quinn. What the hell are they teaching you in that disgusting school?"

"Give that back-"

"Not until you tell the truth."

"I already told you the truth-"

"No, you did not. You are a liar. Do you like being a liar, Quinn?"

"I like someone else! Okay? That's why I broke up with him." Quinn hopped off the bed and pointed to the door, "Now you know the truth. So get out."

Frannie looked at the book, "Are you learning Spanish for them?"

"Get out!"

Frannie gave her a look and slowly stood, "I'm your sister, Quinn. You can tell me anything."

"I'm telling you to get out."

Frannie rolled her eyes and dropped the textbook onto the bed. She walked over to the door but leaned on it instead of leaving, "Guess who I saw last week?"

Quinn sat back on her bed, "I don't care."

"You should care." Frannie took a dramatic pause, "You remember my old friend Jenny?"

Quinn felt her stomach flip, "You saw Jenny?"

"Yeah." Frannie smiled, "She asked about you."

"No, she didn't."

"Yeah huh! She said, and this is a direct quote," Frannie cleared her throat so that she could get the correct impression, "How's your sister? I was thinking about her the other day. Everything that happened between us-"

"Stop. That's not... that not funny."

Frannie paused for a moment, taking in how small her sister suddenly became before continuing the impression, "Lucy... gosh I miss her. Do you remember that summer back when we were in middle school and she was still in elementary and how little she was? She was so cute. Do you remember that game we use to play? Was it called chicken?"

"Stop it! Get out!" Quinn tossed the textbook at Frannie, missing the girl by just a hair. She couldn't stand to hear anymore, her old emotions that she buried with Lucy flooding back to her quickly. She felt angry and embarrassed and as small and helpless as she was before they moved to Ohio.

Frannie let out a laugh, "Are you seriously not over it?"

Quinn wiped at the tears forming in her eyes. She wanted to be as strong as she was when she was in McKinley or around her knew friends or while she was with Santana. But Frannie always knew what to say to put her back down, "I hate you!"

"Yeah yeah yeah." Frannie rolled her eyes.

"What is going on in here?" Judy rushed in, her toothbrush in her hand and her hair rolled up in rollers.

"Great. Mom's here to take your side." Frannie folded her arms and slipped out of the room, not looking towards her mother and letting out a laugh of victory.

"Quinn, are you okay?" Judy paused in the doorway, never sure how to console her children when they were like this to each other.

"No." Quinn laid down on her bed, bringing her legs to her chest.

"Do you want me to stay and talk it out with you?"

"No. Just leave me alone." Quinn knew that she'd get over it, she just needed some time away from everyone.

Judy gave a nod and closed the door softly.

 **XXX**

Santana sat at her vanity and brushed her hair as she listened to her television in the background. Her mind was so off in another world that she barley noticed her mother stepping into the room.

Once she did, she turned to the woman, "Tell me, Mami, does my hair look better tied up or left down?"

Maribel walked over to Santana's bed and sat down, "Why?"

"Well," Santana turned back to the vanity and went back to her hair, "Quinn told me that she likes it either way but she's a bit biased so it's not very helpful."

"Is she?" Maribel eyed her daughter, sensing a new aura sounding her.

Santana shrugged.

Maribel looked at the show playing on Santana's television and furrowed her brow, "What are you watching?"

"National Geographic." Santana turned back to face her, "I know it sounds totally lame, but Q wants me to watch this episode tonight because the sea otters are endangered or something. I turned awhile ago because the narrators voice literally almost put me to sleep but I think they changed the guy half way through so it's not too bad, I guess."

"You're watching National Geographic. Voluntarily?"

Santana gave her mom a look, "Well, yeah. It's not that bad."

Maribel hummed and stood up. She walked over to Santana's dresser and looked at it for a moment. Her eyes stopped on a drawn picture of her daughter, knowing immediately who drew it, "Quinn comes over often."

Santana folded her arms as she watched her mother, "Yeah."

"What happened to your other friends? They barely come over. That Brittany girl and Noah Puckermen?"

"I thought Puck wasn't allowed over anymore."

"As long as you have others around as well, it shouldn't be a problema." Maribel looked back at Santana, recognizing the look on her daughter's face. It was the same look her husband gave her whenever she said something he didn't like, "I do like, Quinn. She's a charming girl, but maybe you two are spending too much time together."

Santana tried her hardest not to snort at that statement, "I don't think we are."

"I'm not trying to make you think I don't like you two hanging out. She gets you to do your homework and is an obviously good example for you." Maribel walked over to her daughter, "I just don't want you to get too close. Quinn, forgive me if I'm wrong, seems like one of those girls who gets whatever she wants. And if she finds someone else to hang out with and give away all of her attention, I don't want you to be left in the dust."

Santana swallowed hard. She didn't want that to happen either. Quinn could be with anyone she wanted and leave Santana behind in an instant.

"Oh, I didn't mean to scare you." Maribel walked over and petted the side of Santana's hair, "I just don't want anyone to hurt mía hija."

Santana nodded at her words and watched her mom walk out of the room.

 **XXX**

Santana rolled her eyes, why did she let Quinn convince her to go to a self-declared "glee party?" Quinn wasn't even there yet and now she stood towards the walls, with a watered down wine cooler, while trying her hardest not to judge the glee kids trying to be cool.

"Hi!" Santana flinched at the voice suddenly next to her ear. She looked over towards a blonde boy that she didn't recognize, "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you!"

Santana scrunched her face at him before turning back to where she was looking, towards the door in hope that Quinn was going to walk through it soon.

"I'm Sam!" The boy screamed over the Broadway musical soundtrack playing in the background. He put out his hand in front of her and she eyed him again, "I'm new to the club. Gonna be a full member by tomorrow."

Santana looked away, wondering why he was talking to her. Out of all the people down in Rachel's basement, how did she look the most inviting?

"I get it. I'm the new kid, so why would you talk to me." The boy gave a shrug before clearing his throats and putting on a different voice that may have been an impression or something.

Santana watched him, a bit intrigued with how nerdy this guy was. But he didn't look like a nerd. She eyed his dyed blonde hair and felt her gaydar go off.

Sam waited for Santana to bite, but after a while of her not reacting he stuffed his hands into his pockets, " _We've gotta be able to get some kind of a reading on that shield, up or down_."

Santana took a moment to sigh, as she recognized that quote from one of the movies that Brittany had made her watch like the other day and she would like to think she had a pretty good memory. So she said seriously, " _Its a trap_."

Sam's eyes widened before he noticed the slight smirk on Santana's lips, "Did I find a Star Wars fan?"

"No. I think I missed, like, a few lines or something."

"Everyone's a fan of Star Wars deep down. Tell me you don't know who this is." Sam cleared his throat again and went into a full impression of someone possibly from Star Wars.

As he finished, Santana let out a small laugh, "Who was that supposed to be?"

Sam frowned, "Han Solo."

"Sure." Santana slowly realized something, "You know who would love you? Brittany. She loves impressions."

"I think I met her but she was busy." Sam motioned towards Brittany located on the other side of the room. She was talking intensely to Artie and it didn't seem like it was going very well.

Santana sighed at the sight.

"Okay." Sam brought her attention back to him, "Tell me if you can recognize this one."

As he began another rough impression, Quinn slipped into the room unnoticed.

The blonde took a moment to scan the room, cringing at the sight of Rachel and Kurt drunkenly singing in the middle of the room, before finding Santana. She couldn't help the smile forming on her face and the warm setting in her chest from just the sight of her.

She began walking towards her before noticing that the brunette was talking to a guy that Quinn didn't recognize. And he was making Santana laugh.

It may sound a bit concerning that she would feel threatened at the sight of someone making Santana laugh but there were only three people other than her family that could make the brunette laugh, which also included Quinn. And right now, the girl wasn't laughing at the boy and seemed like she was actually curious at what he was saying. Who the hell was this guy?

Quinn slipped on her best smiled and walked over to them.

Immediately Santana noticed her and her face lit up, "Quinn!"

Quinn gave her a smile, "Who's your friend?"

"I think his name is Sav or something."

The boy laughed, "Close. I'm Sam. I'm new."

He put out his hand to shake, which Quinn took with a polite grip.

After, Sam clapped his hands, "Where was I? Oh yeah! _You see, if you're guilty, you know you're caught, you get some rest, you let your guard down._ "

He looked at Santana expectedly.

She shrugged, "Trainspotters?"

"What? No!" Sam gave her a bewildered look, "For a beautiful girl, you haven't got much movie knowledge."

Quinn felt a sting of jealous at his direct compliment and folded her arms.

"That's why I have Quinn around. She's a bit of a movie nerd." Santana gave a proud smile.

"Oh." Sam looked over to Quinn, finally fully acknowledging her. Sam shifted under her gaze for a few moment before looking back at Santana, "Do you need another drink?"

Santana shook what was left of her drink in her hand and nodded, "That would be great. Get one for Quinn, too."

Sam nodded, giving Quinn a weary gaze before heading off to the drink station.

Once he was out of ear shot, Quinn turned to Santana, "Who the hell is that guy?"

Santana furrowed her brows, "He's new. Matt I think."

"I know his name, Santana." Quinn leaned in for a harsh whisper, "Why are you letting him flirt with you?"

"What? Quinn, he's gay. He's not flirting with me."

"He called you beautiful and he's getting you a drink."

"Maybe because I am beautiful and he's getting you a drink as well." Santana downed the last bit of her drink and set it down close to the wall, at peace with the idea that Rachel would have to clean this up by herself later, "You have nothing to worry about, Q."

Quinn rolled her eyes as Sam made his way back over, three wine coolers in his hands.

He handed the drinks to the girls before taking a swig of his own, "So, which one of these guys are you dating. Cause you're both too pretty to be single..."

Sam's words died in his throat as he noticed the look on Quinn's face.

"Q use to date that buffoon over there," Santana pointed to Finn who was patting away a liquid that he'd spilled on the front of his pants, "but now she's dating the most beautiful person in school."

"Oh wow." Sam gave Quinn a look that said that he was proud of her before looking back at Santana, "What about you?"

Santana snorted, "I don't date high school boys."

This made Quinn let out a small laugh of her own.

Sam stood up straighter, "I see. You only date men."

Santana shook her head.

"Quinn! Quinn!" Mercedes called from across the room.

Quinn sighed and turned to Santana, "I'll be right back."

Quinn gave a warning look to Sam before walking over towards Mercedes.

Sam gave out another nervous laugh, but seemed to relax once Quinn was gone, "I don't think your friend likes me."

"Probably not." Santana shrugged.

Sam nodded at that, "Do you want to dance or something?"

"No, thanks. Gonna go talk to Brittany." Santana began to walk away, "Maybe you can ask Kurt-"

"You don't have to leave yet." Sam put both of his hands together, "You're the nicest person I've met here."

"You obviously haven't talked to that many people." Santana laughed, "You can talk to Brittany, too. Maybe you can distract her from Artie."

"I was hoping I could be more of a distraction for you." Sam tried with a goofy smile.

It took a moment for Santana to get it before she rolled her eyes, "Are you hitting on me?"

Sam looked around, "Yes?"

Santana sighed, realizing Quinn was right, "Oh. Gross."

Sam looked surprised by her reaction, "I thought we were connecting-"

Santana shook her head and walked away, towards Quinn. She grabbed the girl's attention, "You were right. He wasn't gay."

Quinn gave her a look, "Duh."

"I could have sworn by the hair-"

Quinn silenced her with her hand and motioned for her to follow her out of the room. They walked to the door of the basement and Quinn closed it behind them, "We need to talk about this attention thing you have."

"Attention thing I have?"

"You love attention." Quinn said like it was obvious, "Especially from boys. It's annoying."

Santana raised an eyebrow, "The pot calling the kettle black."

Quinn put her hands on her hips, "Excuse me?"

"We've been dating for two days and you already want to fight?" Santana gave an exasperated sigh, "Just admit you were jealous and then we can make up already."

"I'm not jealous." Quinn stomped her foot, "I just don't like the idea of that guy flirting with you."

Santana laughed as she reached for a strand of Quinn's soft hair, "Possessive Quinn is kind of cute."

Quinn huffed a gust of air, "I'm not trying to be cute."

Santana watched as Quinn tried to find her words, obviously frustrated with the situation.

"I just wish," Quinn reached for Santana's hand and held it between both of her own, "That I could tell jerks like Sam to back off because you're my... girlfriend. But we can't tell anyone. At least not right now."

Santana nodded her head at Quinn's words. She remembered a few moments after they had admitted their feelings to each other they had talked about this briefly.

Quinn had looked over to Santana that day and smiled, "So what now? What do we tell people?"

Santana felt like she was still in a dream and barely heard the words spoken out of Quinn's soft lips, "You're acting like we're getting engaged."

Quinn nudged Santana's shoulder with her hand, "You know what I mean. We can't just go around and tell everyone that we're... whatever this is."

Santana hummed in response, not really sure how her family would react. She wasn't sure if she was gay or if she was only solely into Quinn, but her family was very Catholic. She had barely accepted this situation, how could she expect her family to as well.

"We don't have to tell anyone, if you don't want to," Santana said, more than happy to let Quinn feel like this was her idea, "Besides, it's none of their business anyways."

Quinn seemed to like that idea, "What are we, now? No pressure but I'm keen to labels."

Santana took a moment to think about it, before shrugging a shoulder, "Girlfriends."

Quinn raised an eyebrow as Santana continued, "It kind of sounds weird to say it out loud but I'd rather you'd be my girlfriend than call you something without any anchor and you run back to Finn because of the lack of commitment."

"You must think you know me so well." Quinn smirked.

Santana squeezed the blonde's hands, "I'll tell you what, I'll just be extra mean to every boy who talks to me and then they'll never want to hit on me. Problem solved."

"And the girls." Quinn pouted.

Santana let out a small laugh, "And the girls. But that means that you'll have to do the same."

"But I can't, San. You can get away with being rude but if I start then people will notice something is different."

"Like you can't play up the snottiness a bit."

Quinn gave her a disapproving look but eventually gave in, "Fine. But only because of the way that Sam person was looking at you. Made my skin crawl."

Quinn gave a dramatic shiver and Santana laughed.

"Oh, Q. You literally had nothing to worry about." Santana embraced her, hugging her tight against her, "I really thought he was gay."

"And you thought I was straight." Quinn said in her neck as she breathed in Santana.

"I still kind of think you are."

The door opening to the basement made them split apart, making them both trip over each other.

Brittany stood at the door, "Well thank goodness they sent me to get you both and not Tina."

Quinn and Santana stood awkwardly in silence.

"Anyways," Brittany gave them a large smile, "Stop making out and come back in. Rachel wants us to start choosing songs for New York."


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: A smaller chapter this time, hope y'all don't mind. More will be coming soon I hope. All mistakes are mine. Please enjoy!**

Santana sighed as she watched Quinn grip her steering wheel tight, slightly worried about the blonde wrecking the car as she drove, "You're gonna miss the turn."

"I am not." Quinn snapped as she kept her eyes ahead. A few moments passed before she muttered, "I missed the turn."

Santana let out another sigh. Quinn basically begged her to teach her how to drive a car but the blonde was too stubborn to follow directions. She promised Santana that she wouldn't dent her car by the end of the day but she was slowly doubting the girl's expertise in the situation, "Seriously, Quinn, you need to relax. I'm not grading you."

"How can I relax when you keep distracting me? _Look over there, Quinn. Look at that. Look at this._ I'm supposed to be looking at the road, Santana." Quinn took her hand off the wheel as she impersonated Santana, slapping it back on once the car began to swerve, "And what the hell are you wearing today?"

Santana's ears perked up, "Do you like? I'm thinking about wearing it for junior prom."

"Junior prom is like in forever and that's the most inappropriate dress I've ever seen."

"Yeah right."

"It is! Why are you wearing it right now?"

"I need to see if it fits. So I'm wearing it during this cause there's no chance that it'll get stained." Santana gestured to herself, "Plus I look hot. So, why not wear it?"

Quinn stopped the car at a stop light and reached into the backseat. Suddenly a large coat appeared on Santana's lap as the car drove forward.

"Excuse me!" Santana laughed as she pushed the coat off her lap.

"You are being a distraction!" Quinn pulled the coat back onto her lap before placing her hand back on the wheel, "I need to focus on the road."

Santana took a moment to bask in the fact that Quinn was being distracted by the large amounts of skin being shown by the dress. She in no way would wear this around a bunch of high schoolers, but she didn't mind the hint of red in Quinn's cheeks every time she looked over.

"So you don't like the dress?" Santana tossed the jacket away, crossing her legs.

Quinn peered over for a second, "You look great."

"I know." Santana's phone began to ring. She looked at it and sighed.

Quinn slowed down at a red light, "You gonna get that?"

"It's my mom."

"Maribel!" Quinn smiled, "Answer it! Put it on speaker."

"Fine," Santana answered it, not really feeling up to talking to her mom, and put it on speaker, "Hola, Mami. Qué pasa?"

"Why aren't you home?" Maribel got right to the meat, sounding like she was moving around.

"Because I'm busy." Santana said carefully, "Why?"

"You're busy? Mi Hija..." Maribel gave a long sigh, "I was hoping that you'd be home when I got back."

"How would I know that you'd be back today?"

"Because I told you."

"You said you'd be back like two days ago, but I guess plans have changed again."

"Do not get smart with me-"

"Look I don't want to fight with you in front of Quinn."

Maribel paused, suddenly her tone becoming lighter, "Quinn! How are you, Bonita?"

"I'm fine, Mrs. Lopez. How are you? How was your case in Phoenix?" Quinn asked skillfully as she kept her eyes on the road, swerving a bit to miss a pothole.

"Could have been better, but I can happily say that the good guys won this one. Can you please get my daughter to come home soon?"

"She will be home and safe very soon." Quinn gave Santana a wink.

"Good. I will leave you two to it then." Then the line went dead.

Santana let out a long breath of air and tossed her phone into the back seat.

"You're giving your mom a lot of attitude recently," Quinn observed.

"I give everyone attitude."

"Not usually your mom."

"Well, you know, how can I get in trouble if she's never home?"

Quinn hummed in acknowledgment, "What's worse, your mom never being home or mine that's always home?"

"I don't necessarily want to compare tragedies but I'm thinking my situation can compete."

"I would ask if you'd want to switch mom's but I'll just take both." Quinn joked.

Santana gave out a laugh before the car swerved, narrowly missing a mailman, "Maybe we should switch seats."

"I think I'm getting better." Quinn gave a megawatt grin, "By the way, can I come over tonight? Fran's been getting on my nerves and I need a major break."

"Sure. But Britt is going to be over, too. And possibly Puck."

"I love hanging with Britt but why does Noah have to come?"

Santana laughed, "What's wrong with Puck?"

Quinn shrugged, "I can only take so much time around him. Kind of annoying."

"He won't stay the night or anything."

Quinn groaned, "Fine. Do I have to be nice to him?"

"Didn't he help you win the girl?"

"So? He's still annoying." Quinn smiled at the laugh she got out of Santana, "Why are they coming over anyways? It's a school night."

"Apparently Mami thinks we spend too much time together."

"The woman that's never there to see us spend time together thinks we spend too much time together?" Quinn looked over to see Santana nod, "Well she's probably right."

"I'm thinking it's because I bring you up in conversations too much. I think it annoys her."

"All good things, right?"

"Of course. I just go on about how smart and cool and sexy you are."

"I'm really liking you today, Santana." Quinn teased with a wink, "If we pass by a park we should totally go make out in it."

"First things first, don't miss your turn this time." Santana joked but subtly looking around for any parks.

 **XXX**

The glee club members finished a song on the auditorium stage, a large majority of them not putting much effort into the ending as it wrapped up. Mr. Schue shook his head at them as it ended, placing his hands on his hips as he cleared his throat.

"Come on, guys." Schuester clapped his hands together, "We're going to Nationals in only a couple weeks and we still don't have this down."

"If I must," Rachel put up her hand and took a step out of line, "I have a few suggestions."

Schue's phone ringer suddenly went off, cutting the girl off before she began a long sentence. He put up a finger and apologized as he went backstage to answer it.

She gave a disappointing look before turning back to the club members, "Like I was saying, we need to change up a few things. I was thinking that Mercedes, you may need to step back a few. Only because your voice keeps cutting through the chorus and it ruins the whole feel we are going for."

Mercedes scoffed, "Excuse me-"

Rachel waved her off, "And I'm thinking we have the best dancers go right stage first. So if you'd please, Brittany, Mike, Santana, Quinn... Wait, where's Quinn?"

Most of the members looked around, suddenly noticing her absence.

Rachel looked at Santana, who was fighting the urge to skip out of practice and do anything other than hang out with these people, "Where is Quinn?"

It took Santana a few moments to realize that she was being addressed as she wasn't listening in the first place, "What am I? Her keeper?"

Rachel gave a disappointing sigh, "No, but you are one of her closest friends. Doesn't she care that Nationals is coming up soon?"

"I guess Q forgot to mention that she's gonna be skipping out for this one."

"What do you mean?"

Santana rolled her eyes, wishing someone would get Rachel's attention off herself, "She's not coming. I bet Sam could do her part."

"It's true!" Sam jumped in, "As long as I don't have to wear her outfit. I don't look good in skirts."

Rachel sputtered, "That's surprising and unacceptable. She has to go."

Santana shrugged a shoulder, "She doesn't want to."

Rachel folded her arms, "Where is she? I need to convince her otherwise."

Santana shrugged again.

"You know, Santana," Rachel began, prompting a loud groan from the girl in question, "I would hope you'd be the hub of information like this. You usually know everything about everything. So I'm hoping you'd know enough to tell everyone why Quinn is abandoning us at our time of need."

"Maybe it's none of your business."

"It's everyone's business if it affects the glee club."

Santana was already exhausted from this frustrating rehearsal, so she didn't need this from Rachel right now, "Why don't you go ask her yourself?"

"Well, where is she?"

Santana half-heartedly pointed out into the seating area, where Quinn was trying to sink down into the chair she had been relaxing in the entire practice.

Rachel huffed and walked off the stage, down the aisle to where Quinn was failing to hide, "Quinn! Why are you not going to New York?"

Quinn stopped trying to hide and stood up from her chair as the girl approached, "I'm not fond of the city."

"What?" Rachel grasped for her chest like she was personally attacked, "How could you say that? The city is a work of art. The object of my dreams. The shining star of-"

"It's a little overhyped." Quinn watched as some other glee members slowly made it over. Including Santana, who was the only reason the blonde was watching the rehearsal and not at home hiding away in her room, "It just wasn't my style. At least not right now."

Rachel gave her a wide-eyed look, trying to understand Quinn's words like a foreign language. Then suddenly Rachel's face became hard, "Well, New York is the place for me and there is no way we can win without every single member working together. You have to come."

"I'll think about it."

"You'll think about it?!"

"Is this about that Jenny person?" Finn asked as he wallowed up next to Rachel.

Quinn's stomach flipped at the name, but she pretended as though she didn't feel a thing, "What? How do you know that name?"

"I don't know," Finn stuffed his hands into his pockets as he squinted his eyes at a memory, "I remember once when you were over my house and we were watching something and eating dinner at the same time. The show was boring, but you seemed to really like it. Until a commercial came on and there was this girl named Jenny and she was moving to New York and her family was helping her move. I was hoping that you'd give me some attention, now that it was a commercial. But nope, you were really into it. And then it ended, don't remember how, and you broke your fork in half and said that you hated that Jenny girl and you hate New York and you hated that commercial."

Quinn remembered that commercial vividly and could, if she was in the privacy of her house, burst into tears at just the thought of it. But she just let out a small laugh, "I don't remember ever doing that, but thanks for that, Finn."

"Just promise you'll think about it." Rachel brought the attention back to herself.

"Sure." Quinn lied, "I'll think about it."

Rachel seemed to be pleased, so she clapped her hands and went back to the stage. Everyone followed her, except for Santana who sat on a chair next to Quinn.

They both watched their peers move about on stage before Santana cleared her throat, "So... You ever gonna tell me what's really wrong with New York and you?"

Quinn rung her hands on her lap, "Maybe not today."

"But you told Finn."

"I didn't really tell him. I blurted out things in rage because of a stupid Hallmark commercial. Those commercials are pure evil."

"Whatever, Q." Santana stretched for a movement before settling back in her chair, "Just know that you'll have to talk about it sooner or later. I'm literally not that patient."

"I know." Quinn sighed, the dread of bringing up such embarrassment making her want to walk home with her head down for the next twenty years. To distract herself, she let her eyes wander down Santana's legs, which were graciously freed by a pair of shorts today, "Do you want to skip the rest of practice?"

Santana didn't seem to notice her gaze, her own eyes still on the stage, "I would love to but Berry is literally sniffing out missing links today."

"I know. You sold me out back there."

Santana gave her a look, "She would have found you either way."

Quinn rolled her eyes playfully, "You're probably right. How about we skip practice and we can do anything you want?"

Santana smiled, "Anything?"

"Anything."

"You mean, we can go to the mall and slip merchandise into snotty girls' purses and then laugh at them when they get stopped by mall security?"

Quinn's eyebrows rose, "What? Do yo actually do that? Often?"

"I wouldn't say often but my Abuela and I use to do it to racist shoppers that told her to speak English while we were standing in line."

"I'm lost for words." Quinn gave a shrug, "But sure. Yeah, we can do that if you want."

"Cool, meet you by the car." Santana jumped out of her seat and blew a kiss to Quinn as she walked back to the stage.

Quinn sat confused for a few moments, wondering why out of all the things Santana could have suggested she wants to do that. As she slipped her way out of the auditorium she wondered what she wanted Santana to suggest.

Deep down she knew what she wanted. She wanted Santana to actually hit on her. Ever since they got together, Santana hasn't been completely herself. She still made rude and crude jokes and doesn't censor her language in terms of curse words. She still hasn't really been that nice to a lot of people and for some reason knows everything about everyone in their grade.

But everything sexual had been audited out.

Quinn had learned during their friendship that Santana was a very sexual human being, but now the girl was super PG in that department. Even when they kissed it wasn't long enough.

It wasn't bad or anything. Santana was sweet and romantic and Quinn had never felt this way about anyone before. But Quinn felt like she was alone when she wanted to jump the girl's bones.

Maybe Santana thought she was a prude or something. That's super respectful of her. But also annoying.

"Hey, Quinn!" A boy down the hallway called as he ran up to her. She recognized him as Joe Hart, a boy she knew from her father's church. Once he caught up with her, she noticed the clipboard in his hands, "Haven't seen you in a while."

Quinn gave him a polite smile, "I've been a bit busy these past Sundays."

"Oh, that's okay. Your dad told me to give you this." He pulled off a paper from his clipboard and gave it to her, "It's for the abstinence ball."

Quinn cringed and took the paper with her thumb and forefinger, "Thanks, I guess."

"I'll see you there, right?"

"Probably not."

"Why not?"

Quinn wanted to make a joke but saw the look on his face, "I mean, I might be there. I'll let my father know that you gave me this."

"Cool." He turned away to move before coming back, "I also heard that you broke you with Finn."

Quinn nodded, "Ages ago."

"So I guess you'll need someone to go to the ball with you."

"Um, I'm probably going to take my dad. That's like the thing to do, right?"

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"Right. So…"

"So, you're single now?"

Quinn looked towards the door of the school, seeing how close she was to escape. She wondered if she could make a run for it, "No."

"No?"

"No, not really. I would love to keep talking but I've got to go. See you around." Quinn began to walk around him.

"Maybe Sunday!"

"Maybe!" Quinn finally made her way outside of the school and found Santana's car which was on and occupied by the owner.

Santana was busy fixing her hair once Quinn popped open the door and sat in, "What took you so long?"

"Got stopped." She handed Santana the flyer.

Santana looked at it and laughed, "Yikes."

"It's not for you. Maybe if I go with my dad I can win some points with him and he'll owe me a favor."

"Is that how it works?" Santana turned on the car.

"Unfortunately, yes."

"You'll just have to tell me about it afterward." Santana pulled out of the parking lot, "Now, I hope you're ready for an afternoon of fun cause I'm 75% sure that you're gonna love this."

Quinn doubted that but gave a smile, "I'll hold you to that, Lopez."


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Here's another chapter that I finished a little earlier than I thought I would. Btw, Quinn goes into a bit about her New York experience and its not the happiest story, so just know and be prepared for that. All mistakes are mine. Please enjoy!**

Quinn sat at her dining room table, eating breakfast and trying to get her head together for school. She had to learn about Roman history before the end of the week and her teacher was taking her time on doing actual teaching these past couple of days. Hopefully that won't reflect too bad on the test.

"Good morning." Frannie said as she sat at the table across from Quinn, setting a plate in front of herself.

"Morning." Quinn didn't bother to look up from her cereal, trying to steer herself away from the mood Frannie always put her in.

"So I was looking around your room yesterday," Frannie started, making Quinn look up in surprise, "and I accidentally read a text from off your phone."

"Accidentally?" Quinn felt a tad nervous, not remembering what kind of texts she had been receiving yesterday, "When did you do this?"

"When you were brushing your teeth," Frannie took a bite, taking her time before continuing, "Saw a text from a girl named Rachel."

Quinn let out a breath of relief, "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Are you in the glee club?"

Quinn took a bite of her own food, pretending to think about the question, "Yep."

Frannie let out a laugh, "That club's for losers, Quinn. What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking it's none of your business."

"It is my business if my sister wants to hang around a bunch of freaks and geeks."

"They are very nice people and they're not losers." Quinn actually really enjoyed glee club. She never thought she'd actually like the people there but she kind of thought of them as a second family, "For your information, they got themselves into Nationals which is a pretty big deal."

"That's what the text was about. You're heading to New York with them?"

"No, I was thinking about skipping that."

"What? Why?"

"Who's skipping what?" Russell walked into the room, sitting at the head of the table with a newspaper under his arm.

"Quinn is a part of the glee club and they made it all the way to New York for a competition but she doesn't want to go."

Russell hummed in thought, "Well, I'd usually tell you not to be a part of such a thing but if you've already made the commitment..."

"No, daddy, I don't want to go." Quinn gave Frannie a glare, "I didn't think you'd want me in New York anyways."

"Don't be silly. That little competition will be nowhere close to people we know." Russell gave a deep laugh, "Besides, what would you look like to your peers if you skipped out on them. I thought we were changing your ways, Lucy."

Quinn wanted to bargain with him, but it was final. She could see it on the look on his face. She's going to have to go to New York. She sat back in her chair, the sudden change of plans making her feel panicked. She felt like she was going to puke.

"When is the competition?" Russell asked as he began to unfold his newspaper.

"Next week." Quinn mumbled.

"Well, once you get back make sure to go dress shopping with your mother. I want us to match for the ball."

"What ball?" Frannie asked, clearly jealous that she wasn't invited.

"The abstinence ball. Quinn here was invited by the church." Russell said proudly.

"Yikes." Frannie laughed.

"Do not berate your sister. It's an honor and something I wish you would have done before you had gotten together with that hooligan of a fiancé." Russell snapped.

Frannie rolled her eyes and looked back at Quinn, "I guess you're gonna have to cool it with that boy you're learning Spanish for."

Russell gave Quinn a confused look, "What boy?"

Quinn stood up with her bowl in her hands, "There's no boy."

"Then why are you learning Spanish?" Frannie questioned.

"Maybe it's for class," Quinn turned to walk out of the room.

In the kitchen stood Judy, a surprised look on her face as she scooted her mug away from herself, "Good morning, Quinnie."

Quinn eyed the mug as she put her bowl in the sink, "Good morning."

"Do you want a ride to school today?" Judy asked with a smile.

Quinn usually got rides from Santana, but since her mood was totally shot today maybe it wasn't a good idea. She'd hate to take it out on the girl.

Quinn walked over to her mom and nodded, "Sure."

Then she picked up the mug and drank from it, cringing at the wine residing in it. Judy looked ashamed as she did it, her short sobriety probably shattered just a few moments ago but Quinn didn't say anything as she finished the mug.

After, Quinn put the mug in the sink and gave her mom a sad look, "I have to go to New York next week."

Judy wiped at her face as she cleared her throat, "Why?"

"For glee." Quinn shrugged, "Dad says I have to go. Can't let them down."

"Do you want me to talk to him?"

"Talk to him about what? You know it's final." Quinn folded her arms and leaned against the counter, "Can you just tell me which places to avoid? So I don't bump into anyone."

"I can do that." Judy nodded her head and patted down her dress, "Now go get your books. We'll be leaving in five minutes."

Quinn pushed off the counter and headed for upstairs.

 **XXX**

Cheer practice was tougher than usual. It could have been because of the random and unseasonal heat flash that hit Ohio or because of Quinn's sour mood that she had all day. She was making everyone do extra this and extra that, yelling here and there. It was kind of hot, but it was also super hot outside so it didn't balance out.

They were getting ready to practice a pyramid and Santana was getting a drink of water. She was busy enjoying the ice cold liquid when suddenly someone slammed a typed up paper onto the bench in front of her.

It was Brie and she looked intense, "I have proof."

Santana closed her water and placed it on the bench, "Proof?"

"That Columbus was a hero."

Santana sighed, wondering why this girl was still stuck on some dead explorer. She even brought this up in history class yesterday.

Santana sighed, "Columbus Day is literally the worst day of the year. Fucking get over it."

"Name one day better than this day, Santana!"

"Martin Luther King Day."

The girl went to say something, but Quinn screamed for her from across the field, "Brie! If you want to talk all day, you can do it from the bottom of the pyramid!"

Brie gasped, looked for help from Santana, before giving a whine and walking sadly to where everyone else was.

Santana followed her, but stopped next to Quinn, "I think that girl is crazy or something."

"We have to be an example, Santana," Quinn crossed her arms and spoke loud enough for everyone to hear, "You're this close to joining Brie at the bottom of the pyramid."

Santana rolled her eyes, knowing that Quinn was just showing out for the team, "If you put me at the bottom I will punch you in the ovaries."

Quinn snorted, "You wouldn't."

Santana gave her a shrug and walked over the what looked like a human pyramid beginning.

The practice wasn't over until Quinn felt as though she was tired just from screaming at her team. She leaned against the lockers, watching Santana pull out a towel from the locker across from her. The locker room was almost empty, as most of the girls left as soon as practice was over.

"Today was rough." Santana tossed the towel onto her shoulder and turned to Quinn.

"Did you invite Sam to watch us today?"

"No. Why?"

"He was there. In the stands."

Santana laughed, "Creepy. Maybe he's got a crush on Brittany."

Quinn rolled her eyes, "Is that what you think?"

Santana shrugged, "Yes?"

Quinn rolled her eyes again.

"You're so grumpy today."

Quinn folded her arms, "Ever since Frannie's been home it's been worse than normal. I can barely sleep in that house without her yelling at me about something. She's like a terrible virus that I can't get rid of."

"She can't be that bad, she's your sister."

"She's a disease."

"I'll take you word for it." Santana gave Quinn a smirk, "I can distract you if you want."

Quinn gave a look, "I guess."

"We can recreate that fantasy you had about us stretching in the hot sun-"

"No." Quinn's face flashed disgust before she relaxed it, "No."

Santana's eyebrows furrowed, "What was that? You just literally freaked out for a moment."

"I didn't."

"I just saw your face, Quinn."

"I just don't want to do anything today." Quinn snapped.

"Fine."

"Don't be overly sensitive, Santana."

"How am I being overly sensitive? You said you don't want to do anything. I said fine. What's the problem?"

"There's no problem."

Santana stared at her, fully and completely confused, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. I just don't appreciate you pushing yourself on me like that. We literally just started whatever the hell this is between us and I don't like the pressure."

Santana looked around, "Okay?"

Santana grabbed her things for the shower, "You don't ever have to worry about me _pushing myself on you_ , Quinn. Sorry if you felt that way."

A few beats skipped before Quinn cringed at herself. Isn't that what she wanted? Santana was finally hitting on her and she freaked out. She had to remind herself that Santana was not Jenny. They were nothing alike.

"I," Quinn began to have trouble with her words, "I didn't mean it, San. I'm just having a weird day. I don't even know why I said that."

"Okay." Santana walked off to the showers.

"San," Quinn watched her walk off, letting her head slam back into the locker behind her, "Dammit."

 **XXX**

Santana knocked frantically at the front door, which was what she had been doing for the last two minutes. Once it finally opened, she pushed past Puck, "It's about time! I literally need to talk to you."

"I would say it's not a good time but," Puck closed his front door and walked behind Santana as she remembered her way to the television room. She stopped in surprise once she noticed both Sam and Finn sitting in front of the television, looking just as surprised as her, "now it's really a party!"

Santana began to back out of the room but bumped into Puck, "Maybe I should come back later."

"No way." He placed his hands on her shoulders and sat her down next to Finn, "I'll get you something to drink and then you can cry me your problems."

Santana nodded. She looked over at the other two guys in the meantime, both of them staring between her and a paused video game.

Sam was the first to smile, "It's nice to see you out of school, Santana. I've been wondering if you could teach me that move that Brittany is really good at for glee. Apparently I look dumb or something."

"No glee talk." Puck slipped into the other side of her and handed her a beer.

Santana cringed, "You're drinking on a school night?"

"Correction. We're drinking on a guy's night!"

"Keyword; Guys Night." Finn folded his arms, "Just suppose to be the guys. I think Mike was suppose to come over, too. So you can't stay long."

"I could come back later." Santana went to stand up but Puck pulled her back down.

"No way! You told me that you needed to talk to me and my ears are wide open!" Puck gave his friendly smile.

Santana really did need to talk to him, but she felt like it was weird to talk about Quinn in front of her ex-boyfriend, and she swore she could still feel Sam's eyes checking her out. This wasn't the time or place, "Maybe later. When it's less crowded."

"Wait wait wait. I gotcha!" Puck gave her a wink before diving his hands in a box next to the couch. He fished into it for a moment, before pulling out a baggy and flicking it straight into Santana's view, "Something to relax, m'lady?"

"Where the heck did you get pot?" Finn asked, his voice cracking just a bit.

Puck smirked, "Stole it from some asshole at a party last week," he reached into his back pocket and pulled out some skins and opened up the baggy, "He cock-blocked me from this beautiful girl. Don't remember her name, but she was a fox. Thought this would be the best revenge."

He began to roll up a joint and Santana shook her head, "I'll have to pass, Puck. It's a school night and I want to be on time tomorrow. And I have homework-"

"You've been hanging out with Quinn too fucking much." Puck said as he put the finished joint to his mouth and pulled out a lighter.

Santana sunk into her seat, "Do you really think so?"

Puck nodded his head as he took a hit, his face hinting a bit of discomfort as he held in his breath and passed the joint to Santana.

She bit her cheek, knowing that there'd be at least two to three people who would kill her for doing this. But how could she not join in? Puck wouldn't steer her in the wrong direction, he was her friend, "Fine."

She took it from him and could have sworn she could hear Quinn yelling at her already.

"Rachel doesn't like marijuana." Finn watched Santana closely as she put it to her lips.

"Rachel's not here, you pussy." Puck said as he breathed out a cloud of smoke.

Santana took this time to inhale, letting the burn hit her chest before she took in another breath to sooth it. Then she was suddenly coughing it out and passing it Finn.

"Still a pro I see." Puck jabbed at her arm.

Finn gave a weary look towards Sam, "You're going to do this?"

Sam nodded towards Santana, "Only cause she did it."

Santana rolled her eyes and Puck let out a laugh.

A few passes around and sooner or later Santana was starting to feel more giggly. The room was starting to get stuffy and warm but they barely noticed and now they were all on the floor in a circle.

"Yo, yo, wait. Didn't... didn't you come here to tell me something." Puck put his arm around Santana's shoulders.

"I did but like, I can't tell you." Santana put her hands over her mouth to hold in a laugh.

"I want to know what it is." Puck gave her a slight shake, "I want to know what's so funny."

"I can't cause, like, Finn is here."

"What? Why can't I hear it?" Finn put a hand over his chest, "I'm a nice guy. You may not know it but I'm a chill guy. You're just mean to me for no reason."

"That's not true!"

"It," Finn hiccuped and drunk more of his beer, "It is true!"

"No, don't you remember fifth grade, geography class." Santana pushed Puck away and pointed a finger at Finn, trying to fight the giggles and become serious, "You fucking came up to me on the first day and asked me if I knew where Mexico was."

"So?"

"Why would you ask me that, Finn?"

Finn gave that a ponder, looking away before snapping his wide eyes back at her and letting out a laugh, "Because your name is Santana! Which is Mexican or something?"

Puck let out a laugh so large that it knocked him onto his back.

"That's when I knew you were a giant, asshat." Santana folded her arms, "A fucking racist asshat!"

"I never thought of you like that when I saw you!" Sam jumped into the conversation, finishing the last ten minutes of his time practicing the dance move he needed to learn for glee, "I thought you were one of the prettiest girls I've seen hands down."

Puck gagged, "Don't ruin my buzz, dude. Besides, you have absolutely no chance at all. Santana is taken."

"Yeah, right." Finn leaned against the side of the couch, "And who might have finally tamed the beast?"

Santana smiled, "You wouldn't know them. You never really got the chance."

Finn looked confused for a moment before snapping up, "Have you guys heard that Quinn is dating someone? Some guy?"

Puck laughed and he went for his beer, "Nah, Bro. Haven't heard a thing."

"I heard that he's good looking or something." Sam shrugged, "I mean, that's what Santana told me."

Finn looked at her expectedly, "You've met this guy? Who the heck is he?"

Santana looked away, "I don't want to talk about Quinn."

Puck snorted, "Since when?"

"Since always!" Santana snapped at him, "She's mean and rude. She makes you feel terrible and doesn't give you a clue on why!"

Puck put his beer down, his buzz officially gone, "Is this what you wanted to talk about?"

"No, I don't want to talk about her. I can't stand her!"

"Why? What did she do?"

Santana folded her arms and sat back, feeling more low than high suddenly, "I don't want to talk about it. She was just kind of mean today."

"Don't feel bad, Santana." Finn bunched up his fist, "Quinn's like that sometimes. She's a bitch."

Santana turned to him, "How the fuck dare you call her that, you literal piece of asphalt."

Finn paused, "I thought this was where we were going?"

"I may be going there but you better stay in your fucking lane."

Finn put up his hands, "I just don't understand you girls."

"Maybe it's cause you've got the IQ of a donkey." Santana sat back against the couch again, "Sometimes I wish your mom didn't come back for you at the zoo that day when you were seven. Maybe she could have came back with something smarter. Like a monkey. Or a meerkat."

"How do you even know about that day?!"

The doorbell took everyone's attention and Puck stood up, "I'm gonna go get that. Everyone take a breather and relax. We're suppose to be having fun."

He gave them a second look before walking to his door.

"Gotta say," Sam raised his hand, "Though you're probably scaring the crap out of Finn, I gotta say you haven't looked more attractive than you do right now."

Santana shook her head and looked away, "Gross."

Puck's voice came first before him as he said loudly, "Speaking of the devil, guess who's here!"

Santana gave a deep sigh as both Quinn and Puck walked into the room. The blonde looked pissed and Santana wasn't sure if she'd seen the girl this angry before.

"Hey, Quinn." Finn said softly.

"I'm here for Santana." Quinn put her hands on her hips and walked away.

Santana got up, gave Puck a sad smile before walking out of the room.

They got to a car in the driveway and Santana looked at Quinn, sure that she had taken the bus to Puck's house, "Did you drive my car here? Like all the way here?"

Quinn didn't answer and got into the driver's seat. Santana felt a little nervous but got into the passenger seat and sat silently as Quinn started the car and drove them out of the driveway.

"So, I got this crazy call from your mother," Quinn began to say, her eyes glued to the road and her tone cold, "Apparently your parents were going to surprise you with a dinner tonight since they're finally at the house at the same time, and guess what? You were nowhere to be found. Your car was at your house and so was your house keys and your phone."

Quinn cleared her throat, obviously holding back a lot of emotions, "So what was I suppose to think? That you vanished? Into thin air? I called around and there was only one douchebag that didn't answer his phone. Can't say that I wasn't a little worried."

Santana shrugged.

Quinn managed to look over the minute she did, "So, what? Every time we have a argument you're just going to slip off the face of the earth?"

Santana almost nodded, "You ran a red light."

"What?!"

"You ran a red light, Q. Just pull over. Right there, just pull over." Santana pointed towards the park and Quinn screeched into a halt beside it. Santana then got out of the car.

Quinn rolled down the window as she watched Santana start to walk into the park, "Where are you going?!"

"I'm thinking it's safer for me to walk into this park at night than you driving on rage!" Santana called behind her.

Quinn huffed and jumped out of the car, slamming the door behind her and stomping up to Santana, "Excuse me! You have no right to walk away from me! To treat me this way!"

"I'm not treating you anyway!"

"What the hell is wrong with you today?"

"Wrong with me?!" Santana stopped and turned away to face Quinn, "I just wanted to give you some space!"

"Why?"

"Because!"

"Because? Because you want me to worry about you and feel like I'm going to vomit at just the thought of you being in trouble?!"

"What? No, I just," Santana deflated, "I don't know. I just... I feel weird about what happened in the locker room. I don't want you to feel bad, like ever. Maybe we should she take it slower. Like super slow. On the brakes slow. So I just wanted to give you room."

Quinn had already forgotten what happened in the locker room, her full attention on finding Santana for last couple of hours. She still felt super bad about it, almost hoping that Santana had brushed it off as just her acting weird.

"No, Santana. I can explain." Quinn felt her heart drop, she knew she'd have to explain what happened this afternoon. She just didn't expect it this soon, "Let's just sit down for a sec and I'll explain."

She lead them over to a bench and scrunched up her hands tight, "Santana, you're beautiful and smart and sexy and one of the best people I've ever met."

Santana held onto the bench, preparing herself for whatever Quinn was going to tell her, "Okay?"

"But you're not the first girl I've ever been with."

Santana relaxed, glad that they weren't going to break up or anything, "Oh."

"Yeah." Quinn cleared her throat, trying to hold in any emotion she had over the topic, "There was a girl when I lived in New York. She was older than me. A year older than Frannie. They were good friends."

Santana did the calculation in her head, "Frannie is like three years older than you."

"Yeah." Quinn pushed that detail away from her head, "We were close and, uh, it ended really badly before my dad got a job here and moved us all away."

Santana stared at her, knowing that there was a few pieces missing, "And that's it?"

"Yep, that's it. So, I just wanted you to know about that before anything got too serious between us." Quinn took a deep sigh, relaxing herself and gave Santana a smile, "What happened in the locker room today was just a total panic. Nothing more."

Santana sat back and folded her arms, not liking that Quinn lied to her, "So, what? You freaked out like that because you felt guilty that you use fuck some girl in New York and you never told me about it?"

Quinn flinched but brought it back with a smile, "You could put it that way."

"You know what I think, Quinn." Santana clicked her tongue and began to bounce her leg, "I think something terrible happened in New York, with that girl and you got fucking triggered today. And you don't want to tell me the truth cause you think I'm going to judge you or think differently of you or something."

"No, I just-"

"You don't have to lie to me." Santana looked away, trying not to yell at Quinn in case something terrible actually did happen, "You don't have to tell me what happened but you don't have to lie."

Quinn scooted away, "I'm not lying-"

"Quinn!"

"You don't get it, Santana! I'm embarrassed! I can't even kiss my own girlfriend without thinking about her sometimes." Quinn bit her lip, her face flushed and her body leaned far away from Santana, "It's all Frannie's fault. She keeps bringing her up. I was fine."

Santana waited for a few moments, not really sure what to say without sounding insensitive. But she couldn't help it, "What'd she fucking do?"

"She ruined me. She was older and promised me so many things." Quinn turned back to Santana, her eyes to the ground, "She was just using me. For practice or something. I don't know."

Santana slowly reached over to grab Quinn's hand, which wasn't turned away.

Quinn wiped at a tear, "I promised my dad that I wouldn't tell anyone."

"He knows?"

"The whole family knows. He said that I wanted to be her friend and took it too far."

"Asshole."

Quinn shrugged, "He was probably right."

"I doubt it, Quinn. Your dad's an asshole." Santana didn't know if she'd be able to handle any more information about this, her blood was already boiling to avenge the blonde, "I don't know how or why that bitch hurt you but I can promise you right now that I'd never do anything to hurt you, Quinn."

Quinn looked up, "Of course you wouldn't, San. You're one of the kindest people I know. I just-"

"Can't come to New York for Nationals."

Quinn shook her head, "No. I have to go."

Santana furrowed her brows, "You don't have to do anything you don't want to."

"I wish." Quinn gave a bitter laugh, "Dad says I have to fulfill a commitment."

"You don't have to do it alone." Santana shrugged.

Quinn nodded, "Thanks. I don't know if I can talk more about this right now."

"And that's fine." Santana slipped a arm around Quinn's shoulder to bring her closer.

Quinn didn't mind it and moved her head to Santana's shoulder, "I'm sorry about all this."

"You literally have no reason to be sorry for anything."

They sat silently, listening to the chirps from the crickets and letting the light poles slowly illuminate the park.

"San, I like you a lot but," Quinn put her nose to Santana's clothed shoulder, "You have the strangest smell on you."

Santana sighed, "Since we're being honest here, Q, I might as well tell you that when you came to pick me up, we were all smoking weed."

Quinn gave her look, "You were doing marijuana with Puck, my ex boyfriend, and Sam, the guy who has that weird crush on you?"

Santana gave a shrug and a smile, "Yeah, just a little. But I can say I'm very sober right now."

Quinn shook her head and let out a small laugh, "We were suppose to be studying for a test tomorrow."

"I can still study! I just need a glass of water. And maybe a burger."

Quinn smiled at that, and grabbed Santana's chin to lead the girl into a kiss. With their conversation still fresh in Santana's mind, the girl made it a brief one, giving Quinn only a peck.

Quinn gave her a look, "Why do you keep doing that?"

"Doing what?" Santana gave a nervous laugh.

Quinn shook her head before leaning in back to Santana's lips, making sure that her grip was just a tad tighter against Santana's jaw. She took full control of this kiss, making this kiss go deeper than any other kiss.

Santana had never been kissed like this by a girl and had to hold onto Quinn's forearm as it was happening, pretty sure that she wouldn't want to be kissed by any other human ever again.

It was over maybe too fast and Santana had to bite her lip from smiling too hard, "You literally move me, Fabray."

Quinn smiled, "Just promise me no more smoking with Puck."

"I'll literally promise anything right now."

Quinn gave a satisfied look as she stood up and grabbed Santana to follow her, "Come on. You can't go home smelling like that."


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Howdy, everyone! We're in New York for this chapter and we dive just a tad more into Quinn's past. So just be prepared for that. All mistakes are mine. Please enjoy!**

Shuester left the room, giving the glee kids their 'assignment' of staying in the hotel and making sure that their National performance would be up to par. Once the door closed the kids looked at each other, simultaneously knowing that they weren't all staying in the hotel when they were in New York of all places.

As Brittany began to tell all of expectations and plans, Quinn sat on the bed and pulled out a book, "You guys go on. I think I'm gonna stay in and read."

"Quinn's right, you guys go ahead." Santana laid on the bed in front of Quinn, "We're gonna stay here and Quinn's going to read to me."

"Santana." Quinn laughed, "You should go with Brittany and have fun."

Santana gave her a look.

"Fine." Quinn put the book down, "You'll both probably get lost without me anyways."

"Yeah!" Brittany clapped her hands together, "A special Quinn tour!"

"A tour?" Rachel popped over, "Do you mind if we join you? Maybe we could stop by Broadway."

Quinn sighed, "I guess not." As she stood up she poked Santana's side, "Look what you've done."

Santana smiled as she stood up herself.

During the day, Quinn, unfortunately, became a tour guide for most of the club. She stayed away from the places she knew were too close to her old home but showed them the most important tourist parts.

Santana was enjoying the tour. Though she had to spend the day with so many people, she did enjoy the way Quinn turned to her specifically first before anyone else as she told details about where they were. It was nice to see Quinn in her city.

When they were walking into City Park, looking for any ducks for Brittany to feed, Finn walked with Santana and cleared his throat, "So I know you hate me, but I need your help for something."

"No thanks." Santana watched him huff.

"Please, Santana. It's important." He waited for her to say something before he continued, "I need your help to get back together with Quinn."

Santana smiled, "She's taken so..."

"Yeah, you've told me but I've never seen the guy." Finn began to whisper, "She never mentions him and I'm thinking she probably doesn't have one and just says that she does so that people wouldn't hit on her. Maybe I could get back in there but she only listens to you so maybe..."

Santana held in a laugh, "I'll ask her about it but don't hold your breath."

"You'd really do that for me?"

Santana shrugged as she walked away from him and up to Quinn, who was watching Brittany feed grapes to ducks.

Quinn smiled once she felt Santana's presence next to her, "I made you a daisy chain bracelet."

Santana let her put the bracelet on her, "How did you find flowers? In this weather?"

"Daisies are everywhere." Quinn moved a strand of Santana's hair out of the way so that she could put a daisy behind her ear, [quotes a Spanish poem]"

Santana's face lit up, "What the heck? How long have you've known Spanish?"

"I've been practicing."

Santana wanted to reach out and embrace Quinn, kiss her for being so adorable. But they were in public and around many glee members who they have yet to tell about their relationship, so she put away those feelings for later, "So this means I can't talk crap about you to Mami right in front of you anymore?"

"Like you would." Quinn giggled.

Finn cleared his throat loud enough for Santana to look over. She rolled her eyes and looked back at Quinn, "By the way, Finn wants me to convince you to get back with him."

Quinn snorted, "I think I'm taken."

"I told him that but he thinks your new beau is an impostor."

"Well, neither Finn nor yourself could get me to break up with my _beau_."

"Well, I can't say that I tried." Santana turned to look at Finn and raised her voice so that the club could hear, "Sorry, Finn. Looks like Quinn doesn't want to get back together. Guess you're gonna have to just settle for Rachel."

Rachel looked over to Finn in devastation while Finn's face became red.

Quinn laughed, "That's such a jerk thing to do."

"The look on their faces was worth it though." Santana said as she stored that memory away.

 **XXX**

Santana opened up the menu in front of her and gave Quinn a weary look, "This restaurant is fancy."

"Mhm." Quinn was busy looking through the menu to find the most expensive thing. After the club got bored with Quinn's tour, everyone split off into groups. And after taking Brittany to the Lego store and [someone else], they dropped her off at the hotel and snuck off to a restaurant by the hotel.

Santana looked around at the people at other tables, "I feel a bit underdressed."

Quinn looked up from the menu, "You look amazing."

"I know, but still. I would have dressed up if I knew we were coming here."

"My favorite thing is to go to these snotty restaurants and show them that I don't care enough to dress up. Then I order the most expensive thing." Quinn smirked, "I brought Daddy's credit card."

Santana smiled, "I guess I'll be joining you for this." Then she looked at the menu again, "Everything's in French."

"I got you, Hun." Quinn waved her off.

"It better not be gross."

"It won't. Do you like snails-"

"Lucy!"

Quinn paused, someone calling her first name scaring the crap out of her. She didn't dare to turn to see. There was a lot of Lucys in the world, there was no way that she'd see someone she knew.

"Lucy!" There it was again. Quinn ground her teeth and gripped her menu tightly as there was no way in hell New York would be this small.

"That chick is screaming at us." Santana observed.

"Ignore her."

"Lucy." The woman came over and Quinn couldn't believe her luck, "It's me. Jenny."

"You have the wrong person." Santana said politely, "There's no Lucy here."

"No, I'd think I'd recognize Lucy here anywhere." Jenny smiled at Quinn, making the blonde feel sick to her stomach, "Your sister said you'd be in town. For the glee thing."

Quinn set her jaw, planning some sort of revenge on her sister. She looked over to Santana, who looked super confused, "My full name is Lucy Quinn Fabray."

Santana clicked her tongue and looked between the two girls.

"Who's your friend here?" Jenny asked as she grabbed a chair from a table next to them and sat down.

Santana watched Quinn completely shut down, her arms stiff at her sides and her eyes on the table, "I'm her best friend. Santana."

"That's a very beautiful name." Jenny commented before looking at Quinn, "It's been a while, Lucy. You look really different. If your sister hadn't shown me a picture of you I wouldn't have recognized you."

Quinn didn't say a word, looking like she could puke at any moment.

"She doesn't go by Lucy anymore." Santana piped in, "It's Quinn."

"I'm sure she doesn't mind me calling her Lucy. We've known each other for awhile so..."

"Were you sitting with someone? Maybe you should head back to them." Santana didn't like this girl at all. She didn't like the way she was making Quinn feel and she didn't like the way the girl came over and staked her claim at their table. She especially didn't like how the girl was looking at Quinn.

"I was sitting alone." The girl said sharply, picking up on Santana's tone before turning back to Quinn, "I've been wanting to talk to you forever about what happened between us. To fix things."

"This is definitely not the time." Santana grabbed back the girl's attention.

"Is there a problem? What's with the hostility?" Jenny asked, her teeth set in a straight line.

"There is no problem, I just don't like you. At all." Santana leaned her elbow on the table and placed her head on her fist, "You freak me out. Tell me why you're sitting here, alone, at a restaurant near our hotel where our competition, the one you heard about, is happening? I have this strange feeling that you've been looking out for Quinn. Following her. Waiting to pop out of the trashcan you sleep in just to spew shit at her."

Quinn looked up, admiring the way Santana was standing up for her. Not a lot of people did and she didn't know whether to cheer or cry.

"Excuse me?" Jenny stuttered, "I'll have you know this was a coincidence that I was here."

"So why don't you go back to your table and finish your meal?"

"I want to catch up with my friend."

"She obviously doesn't want to catch up with you."

Jenny ground her jaw and her posture became rugged as she pointed to Quinn, "I'll have you know, Lucy here was fucking obsessed with me back when she lived here. She couldn't get enough of me. What gives you the idea that things have changed?"

"I doubt that she was /obsessed/ with you but let's say she was. Doesn't matter much anymore, she's got more options and doesn't have to settle for Skeletor." Santana smiled, "If you didn't know, I'm comparing you to a character that has a face of a skeleton."

Jenny seethed in her seat and Santana watched on amused.

"Look, if you don't believe me that you're not welcome over here," Santana continued, "Why don't you actually ask Quinn? She's been sitting here the whole time not looking at you."

Jenny looked over to Quinn, a fake sympathetic smile on her face, "Look, Lucy, I know you can't control the actions of your friends so I won't hold this against you. I know you want me to stay a bit longer. We can catch up. Just make it known to your friend."

Quinn took a moment to find her voice, looking between both Jenny and Santana. It wasn't until Santana gave her a look that said "I'll go with whatever you want" that she relaxed a bit.

Quinn cleared her throat, looking back down at the table, "You should probably just go back to your table."

Jenny gave her a look before standing up, "Fine. But don't think your sister won't be hearing about this."

Then she walked off and Quinn let a few tears shed from her eyes.

"Hey, it's alright, Q." Santana leaned over and wiped the tears away with her napkin, "If that bitch tells your sister something dumb and Frannie starts acting up more than normal you can just stay at mine. You can stay as long as you want."

Quinn's heart boomed at Santana's words. No one was ever this nice to her or cared about her this deeply, "Can we leave?"

Santana nodded and stood up, helping Quinn to her feet, "I wasn't in the mood for snails anyways."

Once out of the restaurant they walked little ways until they found a park with a hot dog truck parked in front of it. Santana complained about how gross hot dogs were, but they both still purchased one each. They then sat on a bench, Quinn interlocking their arms together as they stared at the day sky slipping into night.

"That was terrible." Quinn grumbled.

"Could have been worse."

Quinn sighed, "I wasn't obsessed with her."

"Didn't think you were."

Quinn paused, wondering if she should tell Santana everything that happened. She couldn't say that she didn't deserve the full truth. It just sucked to say it out loud, "She and Frannie were like best friends back in the day. Always around each other, so she was always at the house. Just hanging out."

Santana nodded her head in acknowledgment, readying herself for whatever kind of story this was going to turn into.

"I was always kind of jealous of them. They were tall and beautiful and I was short and chubby and didn't look like a Fabray. I was picked on a lot at school but everyone loved Fran and Jenny." Quinn thought back to that time and how lonely it felt. She remembered the times her father would make her stay in her room when people were over so that she wouldn't embarrass him, "And I'll admit that I had a crush on her. She was always nicer to me than Frannie's other friends so why not?

"I guess she realized it one day and started acting really really nice to me. To the point that Frannie was starting to get jealous. I loved it though. You know how I am with attention," Quinn shook her head at herself, "One day, I guess it crossed a line when she was spending the night and she came into my room while Fran was sleeping."

Quinn cleared her throat, feeling more uncomfortable as she talked, "Now that I think about it, she barely touched me. She always made me touch her and I felt weird about it afterward. Like I did something wrong. She seemed happy about it and I just wanted her to like me."

Santana bit the inside of her cheek, anger filling her insides. She wanted to go, in layman's terms, fuck up this girl for damaging Quinn like this.

"It didn't even feel right when she kissed me. It wasn't like when I kiss you or even when I kissed Finn. It just... maybe it was too early for me. I don't know."

Quinn stayed silent for a few moments, trying not to think about those nights or the way they made her feel afterward.

Then she cleared her throat again, "It went on for awhile. Like a few years. But then Fran caught us in a comprising position one night. She was pissed. I almost found it funny, but then she told our parents."

Quinn remembered how mad her father was that night. He slapped her straight in the face and called her so many names, "Jenny blamed it all on me and said I attacked her that night. That I forced her onto my bed and put my hand down her pants. And my dad believed her."

Quinn's voice broke a bit towards the end and Santana reached for her hand.

Quinn smiled at her in gratitude, "He likes to tell people that we moved because he got a great job in Ohio but I think we left because I shamed him. So when we got here I wanted to be a different person. Changed my hair, lost weight. And luckily I got a growth spurt."

Quinn let out a sad laugh, "You know what's funny? Well, it's not really funny. Even after the whole big situation she still came over up until we left. She pretended nothing ever happened."

"Fucking psycho." Santana let slip out.

Quinn wiped at her eye, "Sorry I didn't tell you before-"

"You have no reason to be sorry, Quinn."

Quinn laid her head on Santana's shoulder, "Are you excited about Nationals tomorrow?"

Santana took a breath, knowing that Quinn needed to think about anything other than this, "Not really. I bet Berry's going to do something and we're going to lose."

"Don't jinx us." Quinn let out a soft laugh, "Other than dinner, I would say this trip hasn't been that traumatic."

"The only traumatic thing that's happened is you making me buy a hot dog." Santana glared at the product in her hand, "You know how I feel about these things, Q."

"You'll have to at least try it before we head back to the hotel."

"No." Santana whined playfully.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Here's a chapter for y'all! It's kind of short now, but I hope y'all don't mind. Sorry about the mistakes! Please enjoy!**

Brittany and Santana sat on Santana's bed, painting their nails and laughing at a joke while Puck sat on a desk chair, resting his feet on the edge of Santana's bed and tuning his guitar.

"Can we order a pizza?" Puck asked with a strum of a chord.

"We can ask Quinn to bring one over after she's done shopping with her mom." Santana said as she screwed her nail polish cap back on.

Quinn was periodically texting her and shopping for the abstinence ball with her mom. According to her texts, she was not having the best of time and was on the point of ditching her mom to de-stress at the frozen yogurt shop across the street from the dress shop.

"And Pepsi, too, right?" Brittany asked.

"Sure, I'll ask." Santana leaned over to grab her phone.

"So, girls." Puck put the guitar down and folded his hands behind his head, "What's the 411?"

Brittany giggled, "The 4 what?"

"The gossip." Puck clarified, "Isn't that what you girls are into?"

Santana and Brittany laughed.

"Come on! Give me something." Puck sighed, "How's you and the wheelchair guy?"

Brittany sighed, "There's no me and Artie. He's into Tina now. Or he's been into Tina. I don't know."

Santana rolled her eyes, "Screw him! Go for Mike. If you're really desperate, Sam."

"I don't want anyone else." Brittany looked down.

"Gah! That's not good news." Puck folded his arms, "Give me some good news Santana."

Santana shrugged, "I think Mr. Schuester is having a love triangle with Ms. Pillsbury and Ms. Holiday but I'm more than sure that Rachel was making that up."

"I'm not surprised." Puck gave her a smirk, "You know, I'm still waiting for you to tell me how Quinn is."

"How Quinn is with what?"

"You know." Puck wiggled his eyebrows.

Santana huffed, "I will not go along with your locker room talk about my girlfriend."

"Not even a," Puck made his voice higher to mock Santana, " _Quinn's rocked my world, Puckerman. I'll never find another._ "

Santana ignored him as she sent Quinn a text.

"Sanny and Quinn haven't done it yet." Brittany informed with a whisper.

"What the hell is taking that girl so long to bone you?" Puck exclaimed.

Santana didn't answer as she went back to her nails.

"I have an idea!" Puck reached from Santana's phone, "Send her a sexy pic and then she'll realize that she needs jump you down like yesterday."

"I'd rather not." Santana snatched it from him, "Especially with you around."

"Why?" Puck stood up, "With my help, I'll have you laid by tonight!"

"I'm good, Puck."

"Depressing!" Puck sat back down, "She's doing the same thing she did to Finn."

"No, she's not." Santana sighed, "I'm not gonna make Quinn feel uncomfortable just cause you want me to get laid, which is weird by the way. Get out of my business."

"There's only one reason why you'd be so nice to her like that." Puck gave a dramatic sniff, "Love is in the air."

"Or maybe she's my first girlfriend-"

"I was the same way about Lauren Zizes in fifth grade. Head over heels for her." Puck took a moment to remember.

"Isn't she the one you asked to marry you and she stuffed you in a locker?" Brittany laughed, "You were in there the whole day!"

"Yeah, that was because I didn't ask what she wanted. I just went with my gut which failed me." Puck took another moment to remember, "Have you asked Quinn if she wants to wait? Take it slow? Whatever the fuck you're doing?"

"No, but like, I just know." Santana folded her arms, "I don't know what you want me to tell you."

"It's not about telling me anything. It's about communicating with your girl." Puck said seriously before laughing a bit, "And then getting turned down cause Quinn is a prude."

"She is not." Santana defended.

"What is she shopping for again?"

"I know!" Brittany clapped her hands together, "Tell Quinn that you love her with flowers and candy and fireworks and then you can get all the lady kisses you want."

"No way, tell her after." Puck gave a nod, "You tell her after the deed is done and she'll be yours forever. But now we just gotta figure out how to get the deed done."

"There's nothing to get done." Santana's phone buzzed and she stood up, "Quinn's here. I'm gonna need you to shut the literal fuck up about this while she's here. Got it?"

Puck pretended to zip his lips shut while Brittany gave an innocent smile.

Santana gave them one more look before jumping off her bed and heading downstairs to greet the blonde. She wasn't going to pressure Quinn into anything that the girl didn't want to do. Quinn already knew that Santana would never hurt her so she supposed that it was all down to communication on this topic.

But Santana wasn't good with communication, it was always 50/50 with her. Either she'd ask Quinn about it and everything would be resolved quickly or they'd fight about something because she asked about it the wrong way or disrespectfully.

She couldn't complain though, she felt like she was living in a dream to just be able to hold Quinn's hand or kiss her soft lips. Yeah, and maybe she did kind of feel something stronger than the heat between her legs whenever Quinn smiled at her or told her something she always wanted to hear.

It was also a lot of fun to think that Quinn was attracted to her in the same way that she was. Santana would probably never forget that Quinn moaned her name while Finn was assaulting the girl during a make out session. Quinn knew what she had, and Santana was okay with waiting for the girl to stake her claim.

So she zipped her hoody down a tad more for better cleavage and fixed up her hair before answering the door with a smirk, "Took you long enough."

Quinn smiled and took a moment to appreciate her girlfriend, "I'm glad you waited up for me."

Quinn walked in with a pizza box in one hand and a Pepsi in the other. As Santana closed the front door behind she gave Quinn a free hand by taking the pizza box, "Did you have fun?"

"As much fun as I could." Quinn stopped Santana before the girl ascended fully up the stairs, "Where's my hello kiss?"

Santana smiled, pretended to look around, before leaning towards the blonde, "I guess it's right here."

She placed a finger under Quinn's chin, tipping her head up and gave her a delicate kiss, "Thanks for the pizza, babe."

Quinn smiled, "What would I have gotten if I brought breadsticks, too?"

"Oh, babe, we would've gone all the way right here on the steps." Santana began to walk up the stairs, letting out a little laugh as she went.

"I'll make sure to bring that next time." Quinn said under her breath as she followed Santana upstairs.

 **XXX**

The abstinence ball wasn't much of a ball. The girls were dressed in great gowns and they were serving hors d'oeuvres but they were in a medium sized room in the church. There was barely enough room for the chairs, which were placed in a circle in the middle of the room.

Russell seemed to be having a good time, showing off his daughter to the men of the church. He seemed so proud.

Quinn walked over to the refreshment table as her father talked up the group of men, getting them all to laugh in unison at something.

Quinn watched them as she got a cup of water, a little weirded out by them. She looked over as Joe came over to her, a cup in his own hand, "Hey, Quinn. How's it going?"

"Fine." She said politely.

"I, uh, am Andrea's escort. Her dad couldn't come tonight but she really wanted to do this." Joe said as he leaned against the table with an arm.

"Cool." Quinn looked back towards her dad as he made the group laugh again.

"I think it's really nice that you're doing this."

Quinn looked at Joe, "Thanks."

"It takes a lot of commitment to promise yourself solely for your future husband."

Quinn nodded and took a sip of her water, "Do people actually do this for real?"

"Well, yeah, of course. It's a choice many people make between them and God-"

"Exactly, between them and God." Quinn motioned towards the group of men, "That doesn't include them."

"A father is an important factor in a young woman's growth and-"

"I can't believe you actually believe that."

Joe folded his arms, "Then why are you here? Why did you even come?"

Quinn looked over to the group of men, catching Russell's eye for a moment. He smiled at her before going back to whatever he was saying. She didn't really understand why he was so proud of her.

That's not true. She knows why.

When she was dating Finn he was happy that it wasn't a girl. Finn was an all American boy who was unthreatening and not too bright. He was easy and easy to bring around and show off to others.

And now that she was declaring complete celibacy, he probably felt as though he finally got the perfect daughter. The perfect daughter in terms of Quinn being "straight-edge," unlike her mother. Perfect in terms of wanting to do anything to make him happy, unlike Frannie. Perfect in terms of looking like a Fabray, unlike Lucy.

Quinn laughed to herself, _Wait until he finds out that I'm dating my best friend. He'd flip._

"For him." Quinn motioned towards Russell, "He's so happy right now I could go over and ask him almost anything and he'd say yes. Now I have to just figure out what I'm going to ask for."

"I'm surprised, Quinn." Joe shifted uncomfortably, "When I saw you at church I always pictured you as a God-fearing girl. A respectable girl."

"I'm all of that but I really don't care what you think. It's about my father tonight, not you." Quinn placed her cup on the table, noticing the signs of when her father was done talking to a group of people, "Wanna hear something funny, Joe?"

"Only if it's actually funny."

"I think it's funny, but it's probably only funny to me." Quinn folded her hands in front of her and whispered, "I'm thinking as a mixture to spite my dad and just for the pure enjoyment, after this, I'm going to go to my girlfriend's house-"

"Your girlfriend?"

"That's right. I'm going to have sex with her the minute I see her." Quinn let that thought wash over her, a smile forming on her face, "Funny, huh?"

Joe was at a loss for words as Quinn winked at him and walked over to her father.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Thank you all for the comments and follows! So this chapter is for sure rated M for a liitle bit of sexual content. Anyways, all mistakes are mine! Please enjoy!**

Quinn stepped out of her father's car, picking up her fluffy white gown just enough so that it wouldn't touch the ground below. Her father gave her a smile as he held the door for her, the ball going off without a hitch. After she put on her best charm and kept everything as G rated as possible, she asked him if he could drop her off at Santana's house so that she could celebrate this new step with her best friend.

He was in such a good mood that he agreed to it without any questions.

"Should I walk you to the door? Maybe I could finally meet this best friend of yours." Russell asked as he helped her to the door.

"No need, Daddy. She's probably already in her pajamas." Quinn kissed him on the cheek and waved him off, waiting for his car to be far enough before skipping to Santana's door and ringing the doorbell.

It took a few moments for the door to open, as Santana was not expecting her. Once the brunette came to the door, the look on her face was priceless, "Did you just leave someone at the altar?"

Quinn rolled her eyes and walked into the house as she reminded her, "The abstinence ball was tonight."

Santana closed the door behind her and they both walked to her room, "That must have been horrible."

"It was... embarrassing and strange and I hope to never do it again, but it made my father happy. So, my mission is complete."

Santana hummed in understanding as she leaped onto her bed and unpaused whatever television show she was watching, "Well, there's a change of clothes in your regular drawer. We wouldn't want your princess gown to get ruined."

"I don't mind it getting ruined." Quinn gave a shrug as she walked over to the bed. She was kind of disappointed that Santana wasn't asking more about this. It was a hilarious story that must be told, but then she got a different idea.

Quinn scooted onto the bed, lifted her dress up just enough so that she could straddle Santana's lap and gain her entire attention, "Do you want to hear about it?"

Santana took a deep breath to relax. She had been doing an amazing job controlling herself around Quinn, feeling better if the blonde was completely comfortable with what they did together. It just didn't seem right to pressure Quinn into anything right now, no matter how good the pressure felt as Quinn slightly rocked against her pelvis.

"Sure, Q. Tell me about it." Santana gave Quinn's thighs a slight pat.

"Well, father introduced me to like a dozen people. Dads of all sorts trying the _purify_ their daughters."

"What the fuck."

"Yeah, and then I met their daughters. Half of them were super nerdy and shy while the other half was obviously just trying to please their dads."

"Just like you."

Quinn smiled, "Yeah. Just like me. Then we sat around in a circle and had to admit our sins. Like sexual sins and some of the girls had some great stories."

"Oo, what were some?"

"I can't tell you! It's like their secret sex pasts."

"Well, what did you say?"

Quinn gave herself a moment to remember, "Not much. I told them Finn touched my breast over my shirt once but I'm sure if I told them how much we've kissed I would have gotten extra sin points."

Santana patted the girl's thigh again, "Does abstinence even work?"

"Who knows." Quinn lifted up the hand that her father put her new promise ring on, twisting the jewelry off and setting it on Santana's dresser. She then bent down to kiss Santana on the cheek and whispered in her ear, "Do you wanna help me take this dress off?"

Santana laughed and gave Quinn a slight push so that she could stand up from the bed, "Anyways, do you want to watch a movie tonight? I could go make popcorn."

Quinn laid straight down on the bed, on the verge of having a slight tantrum that Santana wasn't taking her seriously. It was like every time she tried to initiate something, Santana would laugh it off or change the subject.

"I'm being serious, Santana."

"About what?" Santana was already at the door, hand on the door knob getting ready to go downstairs to make some sort of snack.

Quinn looked over to her, "Come take this dress off me."

It took a few moments as Santana tried to gauge the situation but she wasn't completely stupid. She just needed a little confirmation, which she definitely just received.

Then she gave a smirk that Quinn had never seen before as she locked her door, "Sure, Q. I'll help you out."

Then she began to strut over and suddenly became incredibly sexy. Quinn also realized how unsexy she must have currently looked, just fluffed somewhere inside a giant dress and a comforter.

But Santana seemed to be completely into it, as she crawled on the bed towards Quinn and gave her a searing kiss. Quinn had never been kissed like that before, it wasn't sloppy or forced or weird. It was like fire and made Quinn pull on Santana until she was slightly hovering above her.

Then Santana kissed the side of her mouth and then her jaw and then her neck and then Quinn felt another feeling that she'd never felt before. It made her eyebrows raise and her back shiver as Santana just gave a small kiss to her neck. Then an open mouth kiss.

Quinn didn't even realize where Santana's hands were until she suddenly felt them on her thighs, one making a journey up and down from her knee to her hip.

"I found your legs." Santana whispered in her ear and Quinn could only manage a small laugh.

Santana suddenly lifted Quinn slightly up onto her lap, supporting her lower back with just one hand and making the blonde squeak in surprise.

"Holy crap, you're strong." Quinn breathed out, now liking the feeling of Santana's lap a lot more than before.

"It's all that glee club training." Santana joked with a smile as she leaned up to kiss Quinn.

Quinn laughed into the kiss and cradled Santana's face with her hands. Then she let her hands travel slowly down Santana's throat and lower and lower until she felt what she going for, kneading Santana's breasts in her hands. Since the girl wasn't wearing a bra and was surprised by Quinn's boldness, she let out a slight moan that was gratefully received by Quinn.

"You're so soft." Quinn commented as she pulled away for a quick moment.

Santana reached behind Quinn, searching and finding the zipper to the girl's dress, zipping it down slowly before letting a hand into the dress to feel Quinn's bare back. Then she reached to pull the straps from Quinn's shoulders, which Quinn rushed off her shoulders and pushed the dress down to her stomach. They just kissed for a while, letting hands wander around until Quinn adjusted her position on Santana's lap, feeling sharp pleasure from the act to her core.

She had sat on Santana's lap before but if she had known that it could feel this good she would be on her lap all the time. So she rocked her hips against Santana's and then again and again until she was in full motion against Santana's hips. Her breath started to become labored and she had to pull away to bite against Santana's shoulder as she ground hard against the other girl.

Santana's own breathing became labored as well, in complete shock that this was even happening, and leaned back onto the bed to let Quinn do whatever she wanted against her. Santana encouraged the girl was she noticed Quinn's movements weren't rhythmed and pushed her rear back into motion every time Quinn shivered and rocked harder than normal. She could tell that the blonde was close, so close and Santana wanted to see the blonde become undone on top of her. It would be like a dream come true.

But then suddenly Quinn stopped, "Wait. Wait."

Santana tightened her grip on the blonde and whined, "Don't stop, Quinn."

Quinn let out a small moan, her hips rocking slightly as she shook her head, "Someone is at your door."

"What?"

"Someone is at your door."

Santana's eyebrows furrowed as she realized that someone _was_ at her door, knocking profusely. She was sure that there was no one home before.

Quinn lifted off her, scooting away to sit against a bed post to breathe. Santana laid still, trying to catch her breath and trying to get back to normal even though Quinn's leg was still touching her.

Santana sat up, peering at Quinn who was sitting half in her dress and in her bra, "Get dressed. Pajamas are in the drawer."

Quinn just nodded but didn't look at her. Santana stood up and walked over to her door, fixing her clothes before unlocking and peeking her head through the door.

"Took you long enough. What are you doing in there?" Santana's father said with a smile.

Santana smiled back at him, opened the door enough just so that her body could get through and closing it behind her, "Quinn's getting dressed for bed."

"I'm glad she's here!" Pedro clapped his hands, "Alejandro is back in town. Just picked him up from the airport. She could meet him."

"Ale's back?" Santana smiled. She hadn't seen her older brother in two years now that he was living in LA. She had so much to tell him. He had to meet her girlfriend, he'd be so impressed.

"Sure is. Come down for dinner." Pedro gave her a wink and headed down the stairs.

Santana opened her bedroom door, startling Quinn who was only halfway dressed, "We're having dinner with my brother and dad."

Quinn pulled her shirt over her head, "You have a brother?"

 **XXX**

Santana's brother and father had already brought dinner, luckily buying just enough for an extra person. They all went on and on about stories with younger versions of Alejandro and Santana. Quinn wasn't sure if she'd ever experienced a happier family dinner. She wondered what it was like to have the whole family there at once.

Pedro's phone rang and he stood, "That's my cue."

"You have to leave?" Ale asked, disappointment in his tone.

"He always has to leave." Santana shook her head.

"I'll be back." Pedro waved them away, "Good bye, Quinn."

"Goodbye, Mr. Lopez." Quinn gave him a smile and he laughed as not many of Santana's friends called him that.

Ale looked between both of the girls, tapping his fork as a smile grew on his face, "So, Quinn, you're in Santana's class?"

Quinn smiled, "Yeah. We have a lot of classes together but you'd barely notice with Santana's attendance record."

"Hey!" Santana laughed, "Don't tattle on me."

"I wouldn't have to "tattle" if you'd just come to class sometimes." Quinn teased.

"I'll come to class if half of our inadequate teachers disappear." Santana smiled hard at the thought, "If that ever happens I'll come to every class, every day. Hell, I'll host a study group where we all actually study and talk about which class is our favorite. And I'll invite Rachel and be best friends with her."

"Be careful what you wish for." Quinn picked up an egg roll and waved it at Santana, "You've tried this, right?"

"Nope. Look how greasy that thing is."

"That's what makes it taste so good." Quinn took a hefty bite and said with her mouth half full, "See! I'm not dying."

"Not yet." Santana looked her up and down, "I don't even know how you fit into your Cheerios uniform after stuffing your face like that."

"Honestly, it's the only way I fit them with all that cardio Sue makes us do." Quinn swallowed what was in her mouth and began to pout, "I just have this crazy feeling that you love egg rolls."

"You're wrong." Santana tried but failed at the look on Quinn's face. She grabbed the egg roll, "You win."

Quinn smiled as she watched Santana eat it, especially when she noticed how satisfied the girl looked with it.

"Alright." Ale cleared his throat, gaining the attention of both girls as they obviously forgot he was in the room, "How long has this been going on?"

"What's been going on?" Santana asked as she swallowed the rest of the egg roll down.

Ale gave them both a look and the room became silent. He sighed and folded his arms on the table, "It's not a big deal. I'm just glad that my baby sister found someone she actually likes. Santana is very picky, Quinn. Count yourself lucky."

Quinn looked over Santana, a bit worried, "I am."

"Good." Ale stuffed some food into his mouth, "So apparently our parents don't think I can be a chef."

"Alejandro!" Santana snapped, "You just found out that I'm dating a girl and you're not even going to react?"

He shrugged, "Does everything have to be drama with you?"

Santana was at a loss for words, "No... it's just-"

"Looked I've known you were gay since like forever." Ale waved her off, "Plus Quinn is pretty cool so what's the deal."

Santana sighed, "Nothing I guess."

"Good. Now back to me." Ale looked over to Quinn, "What would your parents say if you wanted to be a chef?"

"Um." Quinn took a moment to take in and appreciate this super tolerate sibling Santana that had hidden away, "They'd probably laugh and then ignore me while signing me up for every lawyer class they could find."

"We'll our parents haven't gone that far yet, but they have laughed. They said," Ale began to put on a silly voice, " _Alejandro, we prayed that at least one of our children would be an architect like your grandfather. Why must you try to disappoint us_?"

Santana and Quinn laughed.

"But I want to be a chef," Ale continued, "And they can't change that."

"If you want to be a chef, then why didn't you cook dinner?" Santana asked with a smile.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Yo! Here's a chapter for you lovely people! I appreciate all of the reviews (I read every single one of them like at least five times) and the follows and favorites, thank you! It felt long when I was writing this so I hope you enjoy it. Oh and rated M for mature themes of the "sexual" nature. All mistakes are mine, please enjoy.**

There was only a few things that Santana was afraid of. Birds and the way their fat, rat bodies flung themselves through the skies and sometimes at her. The relationship between Finn and Rachel and the short girl's dependence on his approval and pride. But she was mostly afraid of the future.

She didn't know that the school was having a college fair today, she would have skipped the day and stayed in her room, pretended that the future wasn't coming and that she knew what she was going to do.

But instead, she stood next to the door of the gymnasium and watched as her peers excitedly walked to booths to talk to perspective universities. Tina was tripping her way over to Brown and Rachel and Kurt found the small booth that belonged to NYADA. And over there was Quinn, shaking hands with the Yale representative, solidifying a relationship and a network right into that school.

"Santana," Puck walked over with a piece of paper in his hands, "Look at this! Fucking clown school came here. What would you say if I joined the University of Clown School?"

Santana let out a forced laugh.

Puck stood next to her and looked around, "What do you think about me joining the army? Or the navy or some shit?"

Santana looked down, a little upset that even Puck had an idea of what he wanted to do, "Sounds dumb."

"Does it?" Puck sounded a little hurt, "I mean, yeah you're probably right. Why would I do that?"

"Right." Santana pushed the door behind her with her back and walked out of the auditorium.

By the time the fair was almost over, Santana was leaning against her car outside, waiting for Quinn and Brittany. She was watching the front of the school, hoping they'd come out earlier than everyone else while talking about how much the fair was a waste of time and how they were afraid of what was to come just as much as her.

"Hey." A strange guy with a hunched walk said as he passed by.

Santana couldn't believe that people thought that she was nice enough to talk to on the fly, "Hi?"

He stopped and looked toward the school, "You're not at the college fair?"

Santana sighed, "Had better things to do."

"Same." He nodded for a few moments, "Do you know Noah Puckermen?"

"Why?"

He shrugged, "He's been avoiding me."

Santana looked the guy up and down, "I don't know him."

The guy nodded again and stuffed his hands in his pockets, "Well if you meet him, tell him I'm looking for him."

"And you are?"

"A friend."

"A friend?" Santana laughed, "Fuck off, dude."

He nodded and walked off the minute people began to walk out of the building. Santana watched him walk off, wondering what kind of trouble Puck got himself into this time, before seeing a blonde walking towards her.

"Hey, hey!" Quinn hopped over and poked Santana's side, "Why are you all the way out here?"

Santana shrugged, "Where's Brittany?"

"You'll never believe it but she's been talking to MIT. Like I think they want to snatch her up!" Quinn said as she skipped over to the passenger side, "So she's staying behind to talk to them."

"Cool." Santana said with as much enthusiasm as possible as she got into the car.

"Today was such a good day." Quinn sighed happily as Santana started up the car, "Originally I wasn't up to trying for Yale because Frannie couldn't get in and daddy has been telling me for years that Yale is some sort of ancient Fabray tradition. It's a little intimidating no lie."

"You'll probably get in." Santana said as she cruised down the road, biting the inside of her cheek as she listened to her girlfriend.

"Well, I mean I will now." Quinn wagged a folder next to Santana, "That guy I was talking to is married to a friend of my mom and apparently had a big fat crush on her back in the day. He thinks that I look just like her."

"That's not creepy or weird."

"Of course it is, Sweety, but I gotta do what I gotta do." Quinn got comfortable in her seat, "I've been working hard since forever just to get into Yale and to think, maybe all I needed was a recommendation from some nerd who had a crush on my mom. Wild."

"With or without it, you'll get in."

"Thanks, hun!" Quinn blew her a kiss and began to look through her new Yale folder, "Rachel is completely torn between going to New York to follow some sort of dreams or staying here with Finn. And I've been telling her to drop him and go to New York. She'd be crazy not to."

"She can do both. Finn and New York."

Quinn gave her look, "We both know that Finn belongs in her past and that's it."

"Why? Cause he doesn't belong in New York with Rachel?"

"Well, yeah. High school relationships don't tend to work out past high school anyways." Quinn said distractedly.

Santana looked over to her, waiting for Quinn to add anything else, "Okay, so what are _we_ doing?"

Quinn furrowed her brow, "What do you mean?"

"If our relationship isn't meant to go past high school then what the fuck are _we_ doing?"

Quinn felt taken back, now noticing the mood Santana was in, "I didn't really mean that, San. I was just talking-"

"So what? We'll fuck around until the end of next year and then you'll leave for Yale and find some snooty ass bitchass guy to marry and leave me here to die on my parents couch? Cause I'm a loser just like Finn. A fucking Lima loser like that lanky fuck. Is that it, Quinn?"

Quinn's eyebrows rose, "I, uh..."

Santana stopped the car, "We're at your house. Get out."

"I was just-"

"You were just about to go home and brag to your douchebag dad about how lucky you fucking Fabrays are all the time. Thank you for reminding me!" Santana closed her eyes shut and tried to control this sudden burst of anger, "Just get out of the car and go to Yale. I don't care."

Santana waited to hear Quinn get out of the car but the sound didn't come. She opened her eyes to tell Quinn to get out again but stopped once she saw the look in Quinn's eyes. She was taking her fears out on Quinn and now officially ruined the girl's day.

Santana held in the rest of her anger, not willing to take any more on Quinn and felt tears welt in her eyes, "Sorry. It's just been a tough day."

"What happened-"

"I don't want to talk about it. I'll just see you tomorrow." Santana unlocked the doors and kept her eyes away. It took a long time before Quinn got out of the car, her whole mood completely changed.

Santana drove away fast, wanting to get home to peace and quiet to cool down.

Unfortunately, when she walked into the house, her brother was still there and was blaring the television loud throughout the house.

Santana stomped her way into the television room, grabbed the remote and turned off the screen.

Ale sat up from his position on the couch, "What the hell?"

"Why are you still hear?!" She yelled at him.

He shrugged.

"I just wanted peace and quiet and here you are reminding me of how I'm probably going to turn out. Useless!"

He flinched, "That wasn't nice. Had a tough day?"

She rolled her eyes and walked out of the room.

"Wait!" Ale stood up and caught up with her before she reached the stairs, "You know, I use to have a little temper like you back when I was in those awkward teenage years."

"I don't have a temper!" Santana snapped.

"Okay. Then what's wrong?"

She folded her arms, not sure how to articulate her words, "I'm not mad."

Ale nodded his head and lead her toward the door to the basement, "When I use to get mad about stuff, Papi use to let me punch his punching bag."

Santana didn't know that her dad had one, and yet there it was hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the basement. She walked around it, inspecting it with her fingers and grazing the small rips in it.

"Here." Ale tossed a pair of boxing gloves at her, "Put these on and hit this thing."

Santana shook her head, "I just did my nails-"

"Screw your nails. I thought you were mad!"

"I'm not.." Santana looked down at the green and white gloves. She might as well take it out on the bag and instead of yelling at her girlfriend. So she slipped on the gloves and tightened them against her knuckles, "How do I hit it?"

Ale smiled and proceeded to teach her the proper way to hit the bag without hurting herself. Then he held the bag and told her to wail on it, "Punch it like it's whatever you're mad at! What are you mad at?"

"I'm not-" Santana gave the bag a little punch, "The future."

Ale laughed, "The whole future? Like with robots?"

"No." She gave the bag a harder punch, " _My_ future, dickhead."

"The future sucks. What makes you mad about today?"

Santana gave him a confused look before hitting the bag again, "I don't know, I guess school sucks."

"It sure does."

She gave two punches, "And glee club is shit."

"It's kind of lame."

"So are the people!" She gave a few extra punches.

"I bet there are."

"And my friends are terrible!" Santana punched as hard as she could, forgetting for a moment how to punch without hurting herself.

"If you say so."

"And Quinn doesn't give a fuck about me!" Santana punched and punched even as her knuckles started to hurt, "She's just gonna leave! She never fucking cared! Just like mami and papi."

Santana punched particularly a little too hard, making the punches stop and her cradle her hand. She turned away and stomped her foot as the pain shot throughout her fingers and couldn't help the tears that came out.

"I think you did that wrong." Ale said as he came over to lead her to a chair.

Santana sat down and hissed as he started to take off the gloves, "None of that was true. I like school and glee club and the kids there. My friends aren't bad. And Quinn's been nothing but good to me. As good as she can."

Ale gave her a look as he removed one of the gloves, "Then what's the problem?"

"Me." Santana wiped at her eye, "I'm just scared that I don't have anything to offer any of them. They're all leaving soon and it's going to be exciting and they won't think about me."

Santana felt stupid for thinking that way but couldn't help it. High school was going by so fast and she didn't think once about what she was going to do after. She never thought about it when she was skipping class or putting fun before assignments. Now that everyone seemed to be on a visual path, she felt left out. Scared.

"Maybe you should make best of what time you have when them instead of whining here like a piss baby." The door bell rang upstairs and Ale stood up, "Also, just cause you can't imagine what kind of future you're going to have and just cause you see me here enjoying myself on our parent's couch doesn't mean you won't make something of yourself. Or have an adventure of your own. You just gotta get use to the fact that you're going to have to start enjoying your own company."

Ale gave her a smile before heading upstairs.

Santana sat for a moment, enjoying a little bit of silence before taking off the other boxing glove. She groaned a little bit once she felt that her hand was a little stiff and hoped that she didn't break it.

Santana's ears perked as she heard a voice higher than her brother's upstairs. For a second she thought about just staying downstairs in the basement and letting whatever was going on up there to just happen.

But instead, she made it upstairs and recognized Quinn's voice talking to Ale about something.

The minute Quinn saw her, she rushed over and embraced Santana, "I didn't mean to brag about any of that school stuff, San."

Santana was honestly a little surprised to see her, but couldn't say that she didn't enjoy the hug. Especially now that she felt more relaxed and her knuckles hurt.

She would have returned the hug if she didn't notice that Frannie was also in her house, "What is she doing here?"

Quinn pulled away, "She followed me here."

"I think I'm entitled to see what's wrong with my baby sister." Frannie said matter of factly with her arms folded.

Santana gave Quinn a confused look which was responded with a shrug.

Quinn looked back at Frannie and Ale as she began to lead Santana away to the kitchen, "We are now going to talk privately which means stop following me."

As they left, Ale looked over to Frannie who was awkwardly standing and looking around the front of the house, "So your Quinn's older sister?"

She gave him a look and lifted up her left hand, "I'm engaged."

"I didn't ask." Ale folded his hands in front of him, "Do you like Pokémon?"

"Do I look twelve?"

"Would that stop you from liking Pokémon?" Ale asked with a smile.

Back in the kitchen, Quinn put her hands on her hips and stared down Santana, "You have to tell me what happened in the car today."

Santana leaned against the counter, "I lost my temper."

"I know. Why?"

Santana shrugged, "I don't want to talk about it."

"It's not about you not wanting to talk about it, it's about…" Quinn's sentence ran off once she noticed a discoloration in one of Santana's hands, "Did you punch a wall?"

"No, I," Santana looked at the hand and flexed it, "I punched a, uh, punching bag."

Quinn sighed before going to the fridge to pull out frozen peas from the freezer. She walked over to Santana and grabbed her wrist to set the bag on the hand, "Did you not use gloves?"

"I did."

Quinn looked at the hand, "Were the gloves made of paper?"

Santana shrugged.

Quinn held the hand between the bag and her own hand, going over something in her head before looking at Santana's eyes, "What I said about Rachel and Finn was true. He holds her back from what she wants to do and she's too blind to see it. Well, until schools over and she has to pick between him or New York."

Santana looked down, "You're right."

"But I won't have to pick between you or Yale because you don't hold me back. You've made me stronger and a better person and I believe in myself because of you." Quinn blinked her eyes rapidly almost like it hurt for her to say that out loud, "So, not matter what happens I'm bringing you with me. In person or in spirit or just by status, we're together. Okay?"

Santana knew that couldn't possibly be true, Quinn couldn't bring her with her to Yale. The girl would need freedom there, to do what she wanted without thinking about anyone else. However, it was a nice gesture and Santana knew that she had to make the best of these moments before they were gone to college.

So she smiled to ease the atmosphere, "I'd kiss you but your sister's presence in my house is ruining my vibe."

Quinn smiled back, "If you dare me, I'll kick her out."

"I'm tempted." Santana watched as Quinn cared for her hand, feeling sad that she only had a little over a year to enjoy this.

 **XXX**

Santana waited for Quinn to hurry up and get dressed into her Cheerios uniform while fighting the urge to look through the blonde's room. No matter how many times she was in Quinn's room, she couldn't get the feeling of wanting to snoop around out of her mind. Quinn didn't really like it when people looked through her stuff, not many people did, so Santana did her best not to.

But when Quinn was taking this long, it was almost impossible for her not to look through that drawer that's usually locked but today was slightly open.

Quinn walked into the room, "Whatcha doing?"

"Not looking through your stuff if you were wondering."

Quinn let out a laugh, "You won't find anything if you do. Fran looks through my things constantly so I don't hide things in here."

Santana nodded in understanding.

"Can we skip practice today?" Quinn asked as she sat on her bed and let her legs dangle from off the side.

"Yeah, if you want Sue to stuff us and hang us over her fireplace." Santana said as she fixed her ponytail.

Quinn sighed, "You're right. Do you want to help me stretch?"

"Is that a trick question?"

Quinn rolled her eyes and scooted down onto the floor, "Nope. Wanna go first?"

Santana sat on the floor across from Quinn, "I guess, Q-"

"Good. Legs first, lay down." Quinn gave Santana a slight push until her back hit the ground. Then she took Santana's right leg and began to extend it overhead while keeping her right knee to the inside of the brunette's leg on the ground, locking her right ankle over their leg on the ground.

"Don't know why we're doing this in your room and not at practice." Santana observed as she felt the slight strain as Quinn pressed her leg towards her head.

"Privacy of course." As one of Quinn's hands continue to stretch the leg, the other hand roaming down the tan leg in front of her.

Santana smiled, "I don't think you're doing this right."

"It feels right." Quinn's hand continued down until she was able to grope Santana's rear under her skirt, "No shorts?"

"No way! They're constricting." Santana breathed through the stretch, "I have a feeling that you're stretching me out for the wrong reasons."

"I'm trying to make sure that you don't hurt yourself during practice."

"Right." Santana laughed, "For your info, Fabray, if you wanted to touch me, you didn't need to ask."

Quinn rolled her eyes, "I like being a considerate girlfriend, so yes I will be asking in the future."

"Fine." Santana said dramatically, "Ask away, darling. What do you want to touch?"

Quinn struggled for a moment, blushing as she laughed, "You're such a jerk."

"Only sometimes. Can we switch legs?"

Quinn nodded and let go of her right leg, "Maybe you could tell me where I could…. touch?"

Santana smirked and lifted her left leg and hooked it onto Quinn's shoulder, pulling the girl down into a kiss. Quinn's hands roamed her legs before moving the one from her shoulder and pushing her legs open.

Santana groaned, still sort of feeling this stretching thing Quinn was going for.

"San, can I ask you something?" Quinn asked as Santana pulled her closer to kiss her neck, "Have you ever... you know... with a girl?"

"Hmm?"

"Have you?"

Santana pulled away and let her fingers run over the spot she was just kissing, "Why?"

"I just... worry a bit about kind of being disappointing whenever..." Quinn quickly regretted talking about this, not feeling good about how this could make her look in front of Santana.

Santana gave her a look, "Q, I've never been with a girl."

Quinn seemed surprised, "Really?"

"Yeah, duh." Santana moved a bit under Quinn to get comfortable, "I'm thinking it's like touching yourself. But like with someone else."

Quinn bit her lip and looked away.

"Q? Have you ever touched yourself?"

Quinn shook her head, "Have you?"

"Claro que si." Santana smiled to herself, "Not that I need to or anything."

"I don't think I've ever... it never seemed fun."

"Wouldn't hurt to try." Santana lifted a bit to kiss her again, "I've learned so much about you today. I was literally talking to Puck about this the other day-"

Quinn sat up, just about pinning Santana below her, "You were talking to Puck about our sex life?"

Santana gave a nervous laugh, "We don't have a sex life."

"That's not the point." Quinn moved off of Santana, "Don't you think it's weird that you're talking about that with him of all people?"

"Well, yeah it is weird."

"Then maybe you shouldn't do it."

Santana sat up, "He's a good friend of mine and we talk about anything. I'm not going to just stop."

"Fine." Quinn stood up, "Let's go to practice."

"What? That's it?"

"That's it."

Santana sighed, "Hot and cold."

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing, Fabray. Let's go to practice." Santana pushed herself up to stand.

In the car, on their way to practice, they drove in silence for awhile before Quinn turned down the radio, "I can't stop you from talking to Puck."

Santana nodded, "Yeah, duh."

Quinn sighed as they pulled into the school's empty parking lot, "We're like 20 minutes early."

Santana patted the steering wheel, "Do you want to make out?"

"I'm still kind of upset that you talk to Puck about our personal business," Quinn unbuckled her seatbelt.

"Sorry?" Santana looked over to her with a smile.

Quinn rolled her eyes and moved to the backseat, "Move your ass back here, Lopez."

Santana giggled to herself, more than proud that that actually worked as she unbuckled and threw her seat belt off of her to move to follow Quinn to the back.

Santana's backseat wasn't the largest and was actually kind of cramped. But once Quinn bent her legs in the right way and Santana leaned the right way over her, the blonde began to enjoy herself. No matter the space, she loved the feeling of Santana's lips on her own and she loved her long hair.

Quinn's fingers skillfully let Santana's hair loose from its pony, laughing against Santana's lips as the girl half-heartedly tried to stop her.

Santana shifted a bit, her leg suddenly slipping from off a small cushion in the backseat and slamming into the seat front to them. She hissed and tried to push herself up, "Okay, so that hurt."

Quinn gave her a sad smile and rubbed the spot on Santana's leg that she was sure was hurting, "You may need a bigger car."

"I'm not sure that my dad bought this car with the thought that I'd be doing this."

They were both startled to hear the window above Quinn's head being knocked on. Quinn would have been worried that someone had spotted them in a compromising position if she didn't remember that the car luckily had tinted windows.

"It's Sam." Santana sighed as she looked at the awkward boy trying to look into her car. She moved so that she was fully stranding Quinn's lap and began to fix her hair, "Don't say a word."

Santana rolled the window down a tad, to where only the top of her face was being shown to the outside public and cleared her throat, "Do you need something?"

Sam smiled and leaned an arm over her car, "I saw you drive up but you hadn't got out yet. Wanted to see if you're okay."

"Yeah, I'm alright." Santana said curtly. She waited for the boy to walk off but when he didn't, she gave him a look, "Do you need something else?"

"Yeah. I mean, no." He cringed at himself as he worked out his words.

As he struggled, Quinn was enjoying herself. Her hands wasted no time running against Santana's legs, wondering why she was so soft and what kind of lotion she used and how she got away with letting her uniform skirt fall this short. Then Quinn smirked as she wondered if she could make Santana react in front of Sam. She always seemed calm and cool about these things, but challenge accepted.

"So, I was wondering if you'd want to see the new National Treasure. With me. Some time." Sam asked, his words somehow forming a coherent sentence.

"Nicholas Cage freaks me out." Santana said matter of factly before almost jumping out of skin once she felt Quinn's hands in a sensitive area on her upper thigh. She looked down at the blonde for a moment, before smiling towards Sam.

"We can go see something else if you want." Sam tried.

"I might be a bit busy this week." Santana said as she slapped Quinn's hands away, "You know, with cheer practice and stuff."

"Understandable. I know Cheerios have a competition coming up soon." Sam nodded, "Hopefully when you guys win, you'll get more support from the student body then we did when we won Nationals for glee."

"That'll probably be a given." Santana held in a giggle as Quinn touched a particularly ticklish spot.

"We have a game coming up soon, too. Well, I'm sure you already knew that-"

"Look, Sam. I don't want to be an asshole but-" Santana jumped up, an involuntary reaction to Quinn kissing the inside of her thigh. How she got there was beyond Santana's knowledge, but she did know that she couldn't control the gasp that came out, "Fucking- what the fuck are you doing?"

"Is someone in there with you?" Sam asked, his voice deflated and his shoulders hunched over.

Santana looked back at him, "Um... yeah."

"That's a little awkward." He cupped his hand to the side of his mouth as he said a little louder for whoever was in the car with Santana, "Sorry, dude!"

He gave Santana a sad smile, "See you later I guess."

He gave Santana a lasting look before tapping his fingers on the top of the car and walking off.

Santana rolled her eyes and rolled up her window, looking down at Quinn with a smile, "You're such a dick."

"I try." Quinn reached up to grab Santana down by the back of the neck to kiss her, "Let's skip practice."

"Are you trying to skip out on responsibility?" Santana joked, "Is the world ending?"

"Please." Quinn pouted.

"Quinn…"

"It's just one practice. We won't die, hopefully."

Santana pretended to think for a moment, "Only if I can blame it on you when Sue asks about where we were at."

"Deal." Quinn hooked her pinky around Santana's.

Quinn felt somewhat bad for skipping practice, but she didn't miss the look on Santana's face when they drove out of the parking lot. She seemed happier when they didn't have to do anything regarding responsibility. Quinn had a feeling it was connected to the whole thing with college and leaving her behind. Quinn couldn't promise her much, Yale had been in her plan since forever and no one could stop her from reaching it. But she could give as much of her time to Santana in the meantime.

Besides, they weren't even seniors yet. They had a bunch of time.

They drove around for awhile, not having an exact destination under their belt until Quinn pointed out a dive bar near the edge of town. Santana reminded her that they probably shouldn't go to a random dive bar in the backwoods of Ohio, but Quinn liked that it was named after a bear and insisted once she noticed that there was live karaoke. Santana grumbled something about Quinn spending too much time with Rachel before driving them into that parking lot.

Once inside and sitting down at a table, Quinn watched Santana, amused with how the girl was eyeing the place up and down and obviously judging the hell out of every person in cowboy boots.

"This is nice." Quinn said to grab back Santana's attention.

"Is it?" Santana gave her a look as she sipped her soda through a straw, "The music is giving me a headache."

"You don't like country music?"

"Hell no. It makes me depressed." Santana turned her eyes away to continue people-watching, "The only country music I've ever listened to was maybe Carrie Underwood. She's country, right?"

"Right." Quinn looked over to the stage next to the dance floor inhabiting patrons, "I dare you to volunteer for a karaoke thing."

"I just said how much I hate country music and you want me to sing it in front of fanatics?"

"Mhm."

Santana looked back over to her, eyes squinted, "And what do I get if I do it?"

"Bragging rights?" Quinn tried. When the other girl didn't bite she gave a shrug, "Whatever you want."

"Whatever I want?"

"Don't make me regret it."

Santana grew a large smile and stood, "Oh, you definitely will."

Quinn watched her skip through the people and up to a bearded man next to the stage. She said something to him and he gave a laugh before nodding and motioning her on stage. Music started shortly after and Quinn looked around as the patrons showed slight interest in the action on the stage. Quinn was slightly worried about their reactions.

There was nothing to worry about as Santana began to sing with the confidence of a superstar, " _Last night, I got served a little bit too much of the poise, baby. Last night, I did things I'm not proud of and I I got a little crazy. Last night, I met a guy on the dance and I let him call me baby."_

It had been a long time since Quinn had heard Santana sing, the girl didn't get many solos in glee even though her voice was amazing, and the patrons were eating it up.

" _And I don't even know his last name. My momma would be so ashamed. It stared off, hey cutie where you from" and then it turned into oh no what have I done. And I don't even know his last name_ , Santana gave Quinn a wink before swaying down the stage.

Quinn smiled proudly as people began to sing and dance along.

After Santana ended her performance with a bow, a good portion of the crowd seemed enamored with her. And when she walked over to the table with a few of them in tow, they seemed just as charmed with Quinn the minute they saw her.

They ended up getting a small crowd around them and Santana started up a semi-exaggerated story about glee.

"I swear," Santana finished off a story that had the group in tears, "Rachel had sent that poor girl to a crackhouse."

Quinn watched silently as Santana schmoozed up the crowd, enjoying this side of the girl. She didn't see it often as they mostly hung around people who seemed to already know her. Now she could be whoever she wanted and she chose to be charming and sweet and confident, a few things that Quinn could already see in the girl.

"So you two have boyfriends?" One of the guys asked.

Santana rolled her eyes and looked towards Quinn, "Why do people always ask that?"

"Society perpetuates the idea that beautiful women need a man to fully reach satisfaction within their lives no matter the age," Quinn said tiredly.

The group laughed as Quinn tried her best not to roll her eyes.

Santana, however, did roll her eyes before standing up and offering her hand to Quinn, "Let's go dance or something."

Quinn furrowed her brows but took the hand, letting herself get led away from the small crowd.

Santana led them to the dance floor, which inhabited a few people dancing to slow song about the backroads and a pick-up truck. She didn't even flinch as she bought Quinn closer her, letting her hand fall onto her back and leading them both into a slight two-step.

Quinn let out a fake gasp as she put both of her hands on Santana's shoulders, "People are going to think we're together."

"I would worry about that as well if it wasn't for the old couple at your 10 o'clock." Santana gave a cheeky smile.

Quinn calculated where that was in her head before moving them so that she could look without being obvious. There they were, a nice couple, two women, dancing closely together and not worrying about the world around them.

Quinn looked back at Santana, "They're not old."

"They're like forty."

"That's not old. You'll be forty one day, too."

"Doubt it. I will stop aging at thirty."

"That's impossible."

"Not if I keep changing my birth certificate."

Quinn laughed, knowing that she wouldn't be able to win this one. So she brought Santana closer and let herself enjoy their dance and the way she couldn't escape Santana's scent. She wanted to enjoy this honeymoon phase as long as she could, cause from what she had learned from her parents was that these kind of good things couldn't and shouldn't last. And if they did, they'd only end up hating each other for staying for so long.

"Why are we skipping practice?" Santana asked softly in Quinn's ear.

"Because I wanted to spend time with you."

"You're cool with Sue basically murdering us when we get back?"

Quinn shrugged, "It's worth it."

They danced a bit more until Quinn felt a thought curiously poking out, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"Happy." Santana said almost immediately.

Quinn hummed in understanding, "But like, what do you want to do that'll make you happy?"

"I don't know. I don't really like thinking about the future."

"Not even like what you'll be wearing tomorrow for school?"

"Not like that." Santana laughed as she pulled slightly away to look at Quinn but kept them in a sway, "Like, um, like what I want a career in. Where I'll live or get married. I'm sure you've already thought about that."

"I have." Quinn nodded, "I don't ever want to get married."

Santana's eyebrows rose, "Really? I would have never expected…"

"Its a sham. Traps people. Why commit in front of everyone like that? It's just unnecessary."

"I don't know. I've always like the idea of marriage. My parents seem to be doing a great job at it." Santana smiled.

Quinn gave a sad sigh, knowing that this was probably another reason why she and Santana couldn't last in the future. Santana deserved a big beautiful wedding and Quinn didn't want to be anywhere near that.

The blonde moved her hand to grasp Santana's chin slightly before kissing her, sighing into it though trying not to show too much disappointment.

Quinn pulled away and smiled, "You're so cute sometimes."

Santana rolled her eyes, "You're the only person who can get away with calling me that."

The song changed into something a little more faster and they separated to go back to the table and its inhabitants.

After awhile, they became a bit bored with the place and drunk people were starting to come in by the loads, so they left. They didn't head to the school and ended up driving around until it became darker outside. They ended up parked by the park they always ended up with their seats reclined back and listening to some music while watching the sky change colors.

A vibration sounded from the backseat holding both of their bags, catching their attention. Quinn sighed, "My parents are probably looking for me."

Santana smiled, "Maybe they think you've finally run away."

"Escaped with my lesbian lover."

"That would be hilarious." Santana laughed to herself, "Do you want to head back?"

"Not really." Quinn looked over to Santana and cleared her throat, "About this morning."

Santana groaned, "What about this morning? Did we have a fight cause if we did I'm already sorry."

"No, it's not that." Quinn felt herself suddenly becoming nervous, "I've tried… touching myself before."

Santana laid confused before looking over, fully attentive, "Oh?"

"It doesn't work." Quinn shrugged, "I can't do it."

"Everyone can do it, Quinn." Santana tried to gauge Quinn's mood to how she should approach this situation. In all honesty she wanted to make a joke about it but Quinn was being super chill and honest, there was no way she'd mess this vibe up, "Show me how you've been doing it."

Quinn gave her a look.

"I'm not trying anything. I just want to know how you've managed to actually not be good at something." Santana laughed at herself. She wasn't trying _that hard_ to not make a joke, "You know what, I'm actually trying something. Let me just be honest here."

Quinn thought about it for a moment before unzipping the side of her skirt, "Fine, but only for science."

Santana sputtered and sat up, "Oh my gosh, I was kidding!"

"Santana, I can't stand it. I've done my research and read so many things on this and for some goddamn reason I can't get this. So," Quinn sat up to slide the skirt off of her legs, "Now be a good girlfriend and help me out."

"Uh," Santana watched as Quinn settled back down on the seat. She knew _for sure_ that her dad didn't buy her this car for this kind of thing, "Okay?"

Quinn loosened her ponytail, "So... what should I do?"

Santana shrugged, "What have you been doing before?"

"I, uh, okay I just, you know, just this I guess," Quinn took a deep breath before reaching into her underwear and doing something that Santana couldn't see, "Lots of this."

Santana scrunched up her brow, not sure what kind of research Quinn had been doing, "Well, um, your panties are cute."

"Thanks." Quinn's movements stopped and she sighed, "Its not working."

"Well you're doing it wrong. Like you're not suppose to just jump into it. I mean, I don't like to just jump into it. Maybe some people do but…" Santana paused for a moment to rest her arm on the center console to get a better view, "Step one, chill the fuck out. Close your eyes and breath, Q. This is suppose to be fun."

Quinn did just that and closed her eyes as she breathed deep, "My father's church says touching yourself is a sin."

"Your father's church?"

Quinn smirked, "Well I don't go there for myself."

Santana shook her head, "Okay, now open your legs just a bit."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Better reach. Better view."

Quinn nodded her head and opened her legs slightly, "Okay. What now?"

"Think of something that makes you feel… aroused."

Quinn let out a nervous laugh, "What _arouses_ you, San?"

"Other than this?" Santana joked, clearing her throat when Quinn didn't laugh.

"Not helpful." Quinn sighed and opened her eyes to look at Santana, "So I failed?"

"Not yet. I'll help you out, babe. Close your eyes." Santana gave Quinn a winning smile and waited for her to listen. She leaned over to Quinn's chair, giving her a quick kiss on her nose, making the girl giggle, before kissing her cheek and whispered in the girl's ear, "I gotta tell you, Q. You look really beautiful without your pants on."

Quinn rolled her eyes, let out a soft laugh, "Thanks, hun."

"You know who's beautiful?" Santana whispered, letting her fingers graze the top of Quinn's thigh, "Our Cheerios."

Quinn's brow furrowed, "I suppose."

"You suppose." Santana mocked, "Isn't that why you always stand back to watch them? You say it's so you could watch the cheers but I've seen your wandering eyes."

Quinn began to blush, "I don't... I wouldn't-"

"Or were you just looking at me?" Santana let a hand run through Quinn's hair, "You know, last week I raised my skirt a little, just for you."

Quinn let out a laugh, her blush deeper than before, "You're so full of yourself."

"So you don't like watching me during practice?"

Santana watched Quinn have a slight internal issue saying it out loud, "I wouldn't say that."

"You're telling me you don't like it when I'm all sweaty during practice and you get to tell me what to do?" Santana let her hand roam softly against Quinn's body, recognizing Quinn's shivers and a slight increase in her breathing, "Would it be okay if I told you what to do? Just for a second?"

Quinn nodded her head, letting out a shaky breath.

"I want you to touch yourself but over your bra. Could you do that for me?"

Quinn felt lewd just thinking about doing that, but she moved her free hand over her bra, squeezing slightly.

"A little harder than that, Q. Don't you want to feel it?"

Quinn complied, a little surprised that she actually like the feeling.

"Okay, picture this." Santana took a second to make up a story, mentally telling herself to sign up for creative writing next year, "You're team captain and I'm still trying to steal your spot. And it makes you, oh, so angry. Especially the way I keep teaching all of the Cheerios new moves. New illegal moves, and you catch me teaching them, bent over in a very, very illegal move. Now I know you're a imaginative girl, so I'm sure you have an idea of what that would look like. You'd probably want to punish me, make work harder than anyone else. Make me sweat. Make me get on my knees."

Santana let her eyes drift from Quinn's face to her hand under her underwear, touching the girl's forearm to direct it, "Slowly. And maybe a touch higher."

Quinn complied, smiling at the new place she found on her body. Maybe it was just the that, the new spot or maybe it was just the feeling of Santana telling her what to do. Either way, she was thinking that it was finally working.

"Okay, Q, I'm gonna move your hand a little, but you'll still only be touching yourself." Santana waited for Quinn to nod her head before placing her hand over Quinn's above her underwear and placing pressure on her finger tips, "How's that feel?"

"Good." Quinn moaned, "Really really good."

"You're doing really well, babe. Do you wanna try circles?"

Quinn nodded her head, biting her lip as circles felt even better. Santana continued to help move Quinn's hand, until the blonde started to find its own way around. This didn't bother Santana at all, she was happy to watch Quinn find her own pleasure. She was also glad to take mental notes in what Quinn likes.

Quinn didn't really know what she was doing, but she was glad that Santana was there to help. Plus she was feeling amazing right now. And Santana's voice was exactly what she needed.

But then, as Quinn's hips began to buck, her eyes opened and her movements stopped, "Is that it?"

Santana froze, a bit confused, "You didn't cum."

Quinn bit her lip, "Are you sure?"

"I'm not sure. You should know."

"I don't think I've ever had one."

Santana rolled back fully into her chair, "Well if you would have kept it up, maybe you would have found out."

Quinn sighed and put a arm over her eyes, "I think I've gotten the gist."

"Yeah you totally look like you've successfully finished." Santana snorted.

"I'm sorry, Santana, but it started out good but then I felt like weird."

"Like how?"

"Like weird. And that's it. Let's stop talking about it."

Santana sighed and folded her arms, "I can't say that I'm not disappointed."

"How was it supposed to go, Santana?"

"You said you did research."

"I read a book on it."

"Oh, you read a book on it." Santana mocked, "Obviously you know everything. That's why you totally just came _so_ hard."

"Wow, Santana," Quinn was starting to get frustrated, "It must feel nice to be actually be a expert in something other than your nails."

"It does and it feels amazing." Santana gave her a wink, "I'll show you."

Santana took a deep breath, swallowing down any embarrassment she could possibly develop from doing this, before bringing her skirt a tad higher over her hips and putting her left leg on her dashboard next to the wheel. She slipped her left hand under her underwear and let out a shaking breath. Then she flipped her hair out of the way with her free hand before she gave Quinn a smile as she moved herself against her hand.

Quinn held her breath as she watched Santana, this obviously not the first time the girl had done such a thing. And it was probably the hottest thing Quinn had ever seen. Will ever see. Quinn never knew she wanted someone this much, and when she ground hard against her hand one last time Quinn let herself join in the moans Santana let escape.

Santana had obviously experienced something a lot different than Quinn and though the taller girl was a bit jealous, she couldn't help but feel a bit of satisfaction at watching Santana pleasuring herself. Quinn wanted to be able to do the same to Santana. Over and over.

Santana rode out her aftershocks and smiled at Quinn, "La petite mort."

Quinn shivered, "You're speaking French now?"

Santana gave a cocky smile and pulled down her skirt, "Just a little."

The brunette pulled her seat up to a proper position and started up the car, "You hungry, babe?"

Quinn sat up and fixed her chair while she watched as Santana was completely sated, which Quinn couldn't relate to. She felt beyond frustrated, "Yeah."

"Then I guess your parents will have to wait a little longer." Santana said as she put on her seat belt and reversed the car, "Seat belt, Q."

Quinn put on the seat belt and folded her arms.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Hey y'all! Here's another chapter hot and fresh off of my USB. Please forgive me for any mistakes and please enjoy!**

Santana looked around the room, silently questioning how everyone could possibly stay this quiet for so long. No amount of assignments could keep her attention this long, especially with it this silent in the room. She leaned forward in her chair to whisper towards Brittany, who sat at her table across from her, "Why are we in the library?"

"To study." Brittany held a serious face for a moment before giggling, "Just kidding. I think I found buried treasure."

Santana furrowed her brows, "In the library?"

"Yeah." Brittany nodded to the tall shelves behind Santana, "You have to be my lookout."

Santana sighed, "You're not going to try to dig a hole or anything?"

Brittany raised an eyebrow, "Lookout?"

Santana rolled her eyes, "Of course."

Brittany gave a wide smile as she stood up and walked over the the shelves while Santana kept her eyes peeled, glaring at any nosy people until they turned away or left to the other side of the library.

She only softened her face once she noticed Quinn walking over to her, dropping her books on the table with a perplex look on her face.

"You're in the library?" Quinn asked as she sat down next to Santana.

"What are you trying to say?" Santana joked as she leaned towards Quinn. Since they were in the library she didn't need to worry if people wondered why she was leaning in close to speak to the blond, so since she also leaned closer and let Quinn's scent invite her in, "I'm on lookout."

Quinn tilted her head and squinted her eyes, so Santana pointed behind her with her thumb, "Brittany found buried treasure."

Quinn nodded her head, just understanding her friend, before opening one her books to a specific page with a content look on her face.

Santana watched her for a moment, always entranced by the way Quinn read. So engulfed in the book, even if she had been reading it for only a minute. She leaned closer towards the blonde, to make sure only she would hear her voice, "So I was thinking…"

"Oh no." Quinn smirked, reading the last sentence of her book before turning her eyes to Santana, "What have you been _thinking_?"

"Maybe we should," Santana looked away starting to feel nervous suddenly. She'd never asked anyone out before and even though she knows Quinn had some sort of thing for her, it didn't mean squat to her at that moment, "maybe go out for a thing some time later together."

Quinn smiled, obviously amused by her rambling, but didn't say a word. So Santana couldn't help but continue, "For like food or something. Or like not food. Or whatever."

Quinn's smile widened as she exclaimed almost sarcastically, "Like a date? An actual date?"

"No need to get excited," Santana backed off a little, "We go on dates all the time, Fabray."

"You call eating take out in your car, dates?"

"No?"

Quinn put a hand on her knee and squeezed, "Maybe you should try this again."

Santana sighed and rolled her eyes, "Go on a fucking date with me or something that's different than what we've doing lately."

Quinn gave her a pointed look before looking back to her book.

Santana gave a louder sigh that grabbed the attention of many students in the library surrounding them. She never had to ask anyone out before, and she assumed that her own girlfriend would give her a break in this department. Usually she'd just show up at Quinn's house, or they'd make plans as casual as possible but just this one time was for some reason different.

"Fine." Santana gave herself a moment to mule over how much she'd do for the blonde just to make her happy, "Will you, someone who has already agreed to be my girlfriend, go on a date with me?"

Quinn looked over to her, giving her a analytical eye as she scanned Santana's face. Then her eyes took a detour as she scanned the girl's entire body, stopping at her cleavage and her legs, before looking back to her face with darkened eyes, "Yeah, I think I will."

Santana put a hand over her heart, pretending to be offended, "Did you really have to think about it that long?"

"Had to remember why I like you." Then the blonde squeezed her leg again, "It wasn't hard."

Quinn looked back towards her book, "So what do you have in mind? And when? Should I wear something nice or are you going to take me to some horrible place as a joke? Please don't do that, Santana."

"How about Saturday?" Santana responded. She could think of acceptable Fabray place until then. If it was up to her they'd just go to Breadstix and call it a night, "And it'll be a surprise. I promise I won't take you to McDonalds or anything. Okay?"

"Its a… Its a date." Quinn blinked her eyes as she struggled that out, her eyes stiff against her book like if she'd look away it would fly off. And while Santana looked longer she noticed that Quinn was starting to blush.

Santana felt a flutter in her chest at the sight, an actual flutter, and sighed to try to relax her nerves. She looked around and noticed a guy trying to peak over by the shelf Brittany was busy in, "The hell are you doing?"

The guy jumped, his books almost falling from his arms, "I'm just, uh, do you know what she's doing back there?"

"Is that any of your business?" Santana snapped, enjoying the way the boy winced at her tone.

"No, I mean," he paused and whispered, "I heard her singing about buried treasure."

It took a lot of will power for Santana not to burst out laughing, but she held it in and kept her menacing tone, "And is that any of your business?"

The boy held his books closer to him, "No. I guess not-"

"Then fucking beat it! Are you slow or something?"

He scurried off and Santana looked around for anyone trying to take a peak before leaning back against her chair and looking at Quinn, "I really want to know what she's doing back there."

Quinn, whose hand never left the Latina's knee shrugged, "You're the lookout."

Santana pouted at the blonde before the taller girl rolled her eyes, "I'll be lookout while you're gone."

"You're amazing!" Santana stood up and before thinking, leaned down to give Quinn a kiss on the cheek. She froze a second before she actually did, noticing the deeper blush on Quinn's cheeks.

Santana smiled and walked back behind shelves of books where Brittany was busy burrowing into the wall with a spoon.

 **XXX**

Santana walked into her house after dropping Quinn off at her house, her phone to her ear as Puck went off about a guy at a party.

 _"He could eat a bag of dicks! Two bags of dicks!_ " Puck screamed over the phone as she locked her front door.

"Why are you screaming?" Santana asked just as loud as she walked to her kitchen.

 _"Because the dude wronged me!"_ Puck had went to a house party, which wasn't surprising, and met up with a guy he'd stolen pot from and they argued. Puck had been pretty drunk so he couldn't remember everything but he did remember the guy going upstairs with Lauren Zizes.

"You really need to get over Zizes. She don't want you, dude!" Santana walked into her kitchen and eyed her brother who was sitting at the counter and staring at his phone with a giant smile.

 _"I don't care! I called dibs on her! Everyone knows that!"_

Santana watched her brother suspiciously as she grabbed a water from the fridge, "Don't be a dick. That girl doesn't belong to nothing except that terrible haircut she never changes."

 _"I love her hair."_ Puck murmured on the phone before stating proudly, _"Doesn't fucking matter. I got my revenge."_

"No, Puckermen. You should let this one go." Santana slowly began to walk around Ale to try to peak over his shoulder at his screen. He barely noticed her as he was so captivated by his phone.

 _"It's too late! And you know what? If you ever wanted revenge on someone, I'd support you every step of the way."_

"Way to make me feel bad. What did you do? Just tell me." Santana stood on her tip-toes to see over her brother's shoulder better.

 _"Found his wallet and grabbed like a hundred bucks."_

"Yuck. I hate thieving. Guess you're going to have to complain to someone else."

 _"Guess you don't want me to spend a chunk of the money on you."_

"Its only a hundred bucks." Santana considered stuff she 'needed,' "But if you really, really need help spending it…"

 _"That's the Lopez I'm trying to hear!"_

"But if you get caught, I don't know you…" Santana's sentence ran off as she slowly recognized the name of the recipient that Ale was writing. Her eyes went wide and she gasped, "I gotta go, Puck. My brother is trying to get himself killed."

Santana hung up her phone and snatched her brother's phone from his fingers, "What in Selina's name are you doing?"

Ale reached for the phone, "None of your business."

Santana stepped out of his reach and turned away, crossing her hands over her chest, "Are you out of your mind?"

She turned back to him, Ale looking a bit annoyed, and shook his phone in her hand, "Are you fucking around with my girlfriend's sister?"

He looked down and shrugged, "Can't say we've gotten that far but-"

"How dare you!" Santana sat down at the counter and opened up her water to drink some of it before changing her mind at closing it back, "She's married!"

"No, look, they're just engaged. And they've been having a bit of problems so she and I are-"

"Frannie is just so gross and evil." Santana felt herself gag, "She'll steal your soul, Ale. Right from under you. Quinn has told me that she literally steals souls."

"She's not gross nor is she evil." Ale put his hands on his hips and shook his head at her, "How can she be gross if she looks just like your girlfriend?"

"Take that back!" Santana suddenly had a realization and rose to her feet, "Are you fucking around with Frannie cause she looks like my girlfriend?"

"What? No-"

"Pendejo."

"Watch your fucking mouth, Santana."

"No, you watch your mouth. Kissing Frannie when she's not only engaged but may be a real life demon." Santana pointed at him with his phone, "You will not be seeing her again. How do you think their parents will feel if both of us are fucking up their daughters?"

"I don't care-"

"I forbid you from seeing her again!" Santana stomped out the room.

"You forbid me?" Ale walked after her, "You're my little sister! You can't tell me what to do!"

Santana walked up some of the stairs before turning to him from over the arm rail, "Yes I can!"

"No, you can't!" Ale yelled up at her, "Besides… If you tell Mami, I'll tell her about you and Quinn!"

"I wasn't going to tell Mami."

"I don't give a fuck. Threat has been delivered."

"Do you really think if Mami gives a fuck about me and Quinn, that she won't care that you're a cheater?!"

"I'm not cheating on anyone," Ale looked around him, "Do you see anyone around that I'm cheating on? No!"

"You're a cheater by proxy! And I hate cheaters and I hate how you've complicated this whole thing up like sky high. The Fabrays are going to think that our clan is tainting up their kin and they're going to come with tiki torches and burn down the house!"

"That's not going to happen." Ale gave a large sigh, "I was hoping when you found out, you'd think it was funny and we'd get to bond over why our family is so into Fabray women. We better keep Papi away cause who knows what would happen." Ale joked, but went back to being serious as Santana glared down at him.

She sighed, "Cheating is bad, Ale."

He shrugged his shoulders, "I know."

"Then end it." She tossed his phone down to him.

He caught the phone and held it tight, "I can't."

"Pendejo."

He shook his head, "We were also taught that being gay is bad. If I can accept yours then why can't you accept mine?"

Santana rolled her eyes at him, "No one is getting hurt with me being gay. But you're probably going to get hurt, and so is Frannie's fiancé and she's going to get off scott-free."

"You think?"

"Yeah."

Ale scrunched up his face and looked down, "I'll think about it."

Santana took that as her queue to leave, so she stomped her way up the rest of the stairs and slammed her door closed.

 **XXX**

Friday evening shopping and mani-pedis, Quinn's sister had suggested. Quinn would rather be anywhere else than at the mall with Frannie, but the younger blonde assumed it would be a nice time to look around and see if there was anything particularly nice she'd want to wear for her date tomorrow. She had already picked something out the day the date was scheduled, but there was no problem looking around for more options.

Quinn looked through a dress rack before looking over her shoulder at her sister. Frannie didn't seem present this evening, her whole attention on her phone. She looked a little destressed and Quinn was trying her best to pretend like she hadn't noticed.

But it had been an hour and it was starting to get boring, so Quinn turned to her sister, "Do you want to head home?"

Frannie looked up from her phone, a dazed look in her eyes, "Parton?"

Quinn squinted her eyes, never seeing that look before in her sister's eyes, "You just seem really out of it and I was wondering if you'd want to just head home early."

Frannie's face screwed up and she clutched her phone against her chest, "I'm sorry, Quinn. I'm just not having a very nice day."

There were tears in the woman's voice and Quinn knew that she probably should ask what was wrong. She just didn't really want to.

But maybe this was her way of getting home earlier, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Frannie nodded and reached for Quinn's hand as she led her to the food court.

There, they sat across from each other and Frannie pushed her phone towards Quinn. It took the younger blonde a few moments before she realized that she was supposed to be reading the texts on the screen.

She scrolled through them pretty fast, looking up at Frannie when the texts became a little raunchy. The contact didn't have a real name, just the word Pokemon.

Quinn gave her sister a look, "This isn't Jeff."

Jeff being Frannie's finance of 8 months. The man was a tad boring but super nice. He was studying to be a doctor and wanted to provide everything for Frannie. He was obviously head over heels for her.

"Don't be mad when I tell you who it is." Frannie cringed.

"I'll try." Quinn gave a nervous laugh.

"He's someone you know."

Quinn raised an eyebrow, "Is he underaged?"

"No! No," Frannie chewed her lip before leaning closer to Quinn, "Your friend's brother."

Quinn furrowed her brows before she flinched with realization, "You mean Alejandro?"

"Yes, keep your voice down!" Frannie hushed her and looked around, "You're not mad are you?"

Quinn thought about it before letting out a little laugh, "I don't blame you."

"You don't?"

"The Lopez's have good genes." Quinn looked away, her mind almost brought to Santana and the pair of jeans she was wearing the other day before looking back at Frannie, "What about Jeff?"

"I feel terrible about it." Frannie shook her head, "But I feel even worse because Alejandro just broke up with me."

Quinn looked down at the phone and scrolled all the way to the bottom where a break-up text lay, "That's good, isn't it?"

"But I like him a lot." Frannie slumped into her chair, "How can he break up with me? I should have broken up with him first."

Quinn shook her head at her sister, not surprised that she'd do this kind of thing but mostly disappointed, "Do you think we're programmed to do these things?"

Frannie scrunched up her face, "What do you mean? Programmed?"

"You know." Quinn rested her elbows on the table, "Dad cheated. You cheated. Do you think it's like something we inherit?"

Frannie sat silently for a few moments, "Are you dating someone right now?"

Quinn shook her head.

"Then you don't need to worry." Frannie took back her phone and clapped her hands, her mood brightened suddenly, "Mani-pedi time!"

She stood up and grabbed a reluctant Quinn to follow her.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: It has been awhile but life will not get in the way of me entertaining y'all with the rest of this story! Please forgive any and all mistakes and the characters sure ain't mine. Enjoy!**

Santana had never been on a date where she could decide where to go. Of course, she would pressure the guys who held her interest for a couple of days to go to her favorite restaurant of all time: Breadstix. She loved that place and though the food was mediocre, the breadsticks would give her a reason to play nice while they were there. She didn't like to admit it, but dates were always about the guy having a good time, him finally having someone like Santana on his arm. He won for the night, and all he had to do is pay for a meal.

Santana flexed her hands on her steering wheel, keeping her eyes on Quinn's front door. Maybe she was going at this all wrong. Maybe proper, real dates were supposed to be fun.

She jumped when her passenger door popped open and Quinn peaked her head.

Quinn gave her a smile, "Hey."

"Hey," Santana smiled back, "Jump in."

Quinn did as such and closed the door once she settled in. Santana took in her girlfriend's attire, a long black coat, "I like your outfit."

Quinn gave her a look before removing the coat and revealing a nice dress that couldn't work on a normal day out, "Didn't want to answer any questions."

Santana glanced over to Quinn, taking in the outfit and trying not to sigh out loud from the beauty she was sitting next to, "You're looking ah-mazing tonight."

Quinn gave a proud look before accepting the compliment with the same nonchalance and buckling her seatbelt.

Santana cleared her throat as she drove them away, "We're not going to Breadstix."

Quinn hummed in acknowledgment, "I didn't think we were going to Breadstix."

Santana smirked, hearing the sarcasm in Quinn's voice, "Yes you did."

"It's your favorite restaurant," Quinn said with a shrug of a shoulder like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"And you're my favorite person," Santana said without thinking, letting the last word grind through her teeth as she cringed at herself, "So, I should take you somewhere better than a second-rate Italian restaurant."

She slowed down the car to catch a glimpse of the girl next to her (since she wasn't going to just say that without some sort of reward) and was greeted with a blushing Quinn, trying not to smile but failing horribly.

The blonde's smile only grew fully on her face once Santana parked the car, right in front of the old art museum in town. She had been talking about it for weeks; some sort of special art was showcasing there during the night this week and though Santana pretended that she didn't listen when it was brought up, she actually paid close attention. Quinn always had that look in her eye when talked about nerdy things like art or science or literature.

And as Quinn looked up at the museum, the sun casting its last shadow on the front of the building, she had that same look in her eye. That same sparkle.

It never left as they walked through the museum. They didn't even need to walk with the tour, Quinn knew about all the paintings and moved them faster than the other groups, as she was too excited not to show Santana everything.

After an hour, once Santana's feet started to hurt, they sat down in front a painting that had a bunch of flying naked old man babies and Quinn stared at it in awe like it was the first one ever made. Maybe it was.

Quinn caught her starring and squinted her eyes at the Latina, "What?"

"Nothing, you're just," _Cute_. _Adorable_. _Beautiful_ , "so fucking nerdy."

"Gee thanks," Quinn snorted and looked back at the painting, "It's nice to be out of the house."

Santana frowned, "Parents still not getting along?"

"They're fighting every night." Quinn stated more to herself than to the girl next to her. She had a dazed look on her face like she always did when she talked about her family.

"I don't mind you staying the night at mine." Santana thought about what that implied as Quinn turned to look at her, "Platonically."

"Platonically." Quinn repeated, a small smirk in her eyes as she leaned closer to Santana.

Santana opened her mouth to flirt right back but stopped herself. She could kiss her right now if she wanted. The way Quinn's eyes are looking back and forth between her eyes and her lips tell her that's a very popular possibility.

But that doesn't mean it didn't make her nervous as hell.

Santana cleared her throat and looked away, "You hungry yet?"

Quinn leaned away, "Now that you mention it I was expecting to eat at a gross Italian restaurant, hours ago."

"Do not insult Breadstix, Blondie," Santana stood up and pulled Quinn by the hand to join her in a walk, "Don't worry, I'll feed you."

"I'll try." Quinn teased and squeezed Santana's hand that was still holding her own, "I have to tell you something. Not about me, but like my sister."

"Spill." Santana held a door for Quinn and gave her a reassuring smile.

"I think my sister is having an affair with your brother." Quinn strained to say as they crossed the street.

"I know." Santana watched Quinn give her a look, "I read my brother's texts. It's terrible, right?"

"I wouldn't say terrible."

"Your sister is like practically married and she's your sister. Yuck." Santana exclaimed as they walked to a restaurant near the museum.

"I would defend her but she makes it hard." They stopped in front of the doors of the restaurant and Quinn turned to her, "I think its kind of sweet."

Santana furrowed her brow, "What? That your sister is cheating?"

"No." Quinn shook her head, "But Ale makes Frannie feel things-"

"What? Horny?"

"No, again." Quinn sighed, "He makes her feel alive. She really seems to like him."

"And she doesn't like her fiancé."

Quinn shrugged, "Not really."

Santana looked away, "That's pretty fucked up."

As she looked away she noticed two familiar faces sitting at the restaurant outside and audibly sighed.

Quinn looked over as well, feeling a bit surprised to see Finn and Rachel eating a fancy meal between them. Quinn could never get Finn to go out to dinner with her to special places, the best they ever went to was the mall. She suddenly felt a tad jealous.

Santana looked over to Quinn, recognizing the look and not feeling too good about it, "Plan B."

"Breadstix?"

Santana snorted, "No way, Fabray."

Santana grabbed the girl's hand and lead her away from the restaurant and to her car.

An hour later, Quinn sat at Santana's counter watching Santana cook and sing along to music cruising in the air. The Lopez family had just done a large shop for a client Maribel was trying to impress midweek, and Santana decided that it would be best to use it and replace it Monday before her mother noticed.

Quinn didn't think it was going to work but enjoyed watching Santana cook and dance, it seemed domestic even in her tight dress.

Santana's phone began to ring on the counter in front of Quinn and Santana motioned for the girl to answer it and put it on speaker.

" _Hoepez, you will not believe what happened!"_ Puck's voice screamed over the speaker.

Quinn gave Santana a look in response to the nickname while Santana rolled her eyes as she screamed back at him, "Dude, can't you tell me later? I'm on a date."

 _"With who?"_

"With Quinn, asshole."

 _"Oh fuck, for real? My bad._ " There was movement on the side of the call before he began talking again, " _But this can't wait!"_

"It'll have to."

" _It's Zizes! She's finally giving me a chance! It only took me breaking into a 7/11 but that's another story-"_

"Wait!" Quinn jumped into the conversation with a laugh, "Lauren Zizes as in that terrifying giant girl?"

Puck's line went silent for a few moments, " _Am I on speaker?"_

"Hi, Noah!" Quinn sang, "Are you really trying to woo Lauren Zizes?"

" _Um, in a way… Yes. But, topic change, Finn saw you both at some restaurant he was at today._ "

Santana sighed, "So, what?"

" _Well, now he's writing me about whether you both are on some double date or something. He's freaking out."_

"Like he wasn't on a date with Berry." Santana said as she finished the last of her food preparations.

 _"Doesn't matter. He wants details about Quinn's love life right now. I'm not really sure what to tell him. Since you're both here maybe you could tell me something to say."_

Santana looked at Quinn who seemed completely disconnected from the call and eyes out of the window, "Hey, Puck. Do you have the time?"

 _"Uh, yeah. 8:50ish. Why?"_

Santana reached for the phone and hung up the phone, passing two tubberware full of food to Quinn, "Almost time!"

Quinn gave her a funny look as Santana grabbed two blankets and dragged her out of the kitchen. Once they were outside of the house, Santana dragged them around the corner and down towards the park that Quinn has yet to be. To her surprise there was a small gathering of people there, all sitting in the grass and waiting for a band to set up on a small stage.

They stopped in a good spot and Santana layer out a blanket while Quinn looked around.

"What is this?" Quinn asked as Santana motioned for her to sit down next to her on the blanket.

"I don't usually support our local artists but I heard some guys from that high school ten miles from ours had got some weird band to visit for some secret concert and I have a slight feeling you like weird bands, so.." Santana shook out the other blanket and smiled at Quinn, "Looks like I didn't bring enough blankets. We'll have to share."

Quinn shook her head at Santana and set the food down to fix the cover around her and Santana's shoulders as the band started their set. Quinn paused after setting the food in both of their laps, "I… think I know this song."

"Hmm, It's almost like I looked through your songs on your phone and found out that one of your favorite bands was traveling through town and paid some guys to get them to play here."

Quinn stared at her, "Did you?"

Santana gave her a smirk, "That would be a lot of work, Fabray."

Quinn rolled her eyes and leaned closer to Santana, "Well, this is sweet either way."

Quinn kissed Santana's cheek, making the other girl let out a small giggle, "Stop it, Q. We are in public!"

"No one cares. Plus its dark." Quinn mumbled against her cheek before continuing her kissing down to the girl's neck. Santana put up a fake fight before relaxing into Quinn's warm body flushed against her as the music from the band bounced around them.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Here's another chapter. A long chapter cause I heart all of yous and I feel bad for not putting one out for awhile. Next one should be out soon, it's on my computer ready to go not sure why it's taking me so long. Warning on a little bit of a slur and a little bit of smut, but nothing too bad. All mistakes are mine!**

Santana sat at the lunch table and looked through her textbook, a little concerned with a test that she was going to have in a couple periods. Her view was blocked as Quinn slipped some tickets into her book.

She looked up to see the blonde giving her an expecting look, "Yes?"

Quinn tapped her fingers on the tickets, "Junior Prom is coming up."

Santana smiled, "You asking me something?"

Quinn smirked, "If you're not doing anything, maybe we could go together? As a sort of secret couple?"

"Babe-"

"Quinn!" Finn's voice rang loud in the cafeteria, silencing everyone.

Quinn sighed and looked over towards him as she muttered under her breath, "Please no."

"Quinn! I know that you probably hate me but I think you should give me a second chance!" Finn said as music began from an unknown source. He did a two step, twirled in a circle before singing with a hand over his heart. Sam and Puck showed up behind him for back vocals, Puck's face cringing as he looked between the two girls.

Santana looked over to Quinn, trying to get a reading on her face. But she couldn't, the blonde's face stuck on a polite smile as Finn danced around the table.

Santana watched Finn serenade Quinn, trying to hate the guy but failing. She knew the look on his face, the longing for Quinn to look at him. She wanted to hate that he wants her so much and for Quinn to even notice, but Santana's felt that before. She still does at times.

It was kind of heartbreaking to watch him try so hard. Quinn was unreadable and Santana couldn't tell if she should feel threatened or safe. Finn was competition, he could come up to Quinn and kiss her in public and the blonde's father would be happy to see them together. Being with Finn was easier, that was just elementary here.

At the very end, Finn stopped in front of the table and got on one knee in front of Quinn, "Will you go to Junior Prom with me? And maybe take me back?"

Santana watched as Quinn didn't say a word as she lost the polite smile and looked around. The whole cafeteria was watching and she kind of looked embarrassed.

"Um," Quinn finally said as she began to stand, "I have to go."

Then she walked out of the cafeteria without another word.

Finn looked over to Santana, "Is that a yes?"

"I don't know." Santana began to pack her stuff, "I'll go see. Stay here."

Santana grabbed all her stuff and began to walk out of the cafeteria. But not without mouthing "traitor" to Puck before she left.

It took a while before she found Quinn, but luckily she was in girl's bathroom on the second floor by a 12-year English classroom.

Santana walked into the bathroom and sighed, "Thank goodness, Q. I thought you walked out the fucking school."

Quinn was leaning against the sink, her arms folded and her face contorted, "I want to tell people."

Santana closed the door from behind her, "Tell people what?"

Quinn gave her a look, "About us. I want to make it official. Not hide anymore."

"Oh." Santana walked over to the stalls and began opening them one by one.

"Are you seriously checking if someone else is in here?" Quinn snapped.

"I don't want anyone to overhear us."

"Are you listening to me? I want to tell people! I don't care if anyone's listening."

"Oh my god, Quinn, you're just freaking out cause Finn's song was terrible."

"No! I'm freaking out because I can't give you some over the top promposal because we're too afraid to tell people we're a couple." Quinn huffed, "And yes it was a terrible song."

"What do you want? Do you want to come out to the school? Do you want to tell our parents? Cause I'm sure that it won't end with a happy ending, Quinn!"

"I don't want to come out to my parents. Neither of our parents." Quinn walked towards her, "But I can't keep it a secret here at school anymore, San. I just want to be left alone. With you!"

"I don't know what you expect! It won't be fun! And it'll get back to our folks. That's just how it goes."

"I'm just tired of not being who I am." Quinn reached for Santana's hands, "And I'm scared too but how great would it be if we could kiss or hold hands in public. Or to get Finn to stop. Or Sam to leave you alone. That would be amazing, San, and you know it."

Santana shook her head, "If my parents find out..."

Santana couldn't imagine the chaos it would bring to her family if they found out about this. Her grandmother would never understand and it would send a giant rift between her and half of her family. She wasn't sure that she'd ever be ready for that kind of thing.

But here was Quinn, willing to put everything on the line so that they could have a bit of relaxation while at school. Quinn's household would be worse than Santana's, her father would probably rip her out of the school. Out of the state. Maybe out of the country this time.

But yet the blonde was willing to take a chance for a little bit happiness at school. Santana wanted to feel as brave as Quinn, just a minuscule of it would be enough.

"I know." Quinn sighed, "I'm asking for a lot. Maybe it was just Finn's song-"

"And if your dad finds out."

"Yeah, you're right." Quinn gave a deep exhale before a sad smile, "You know what, never mind. Never mind. Finn just freaked me out-"

Santana grabbed Quinn's cheeks and kissed her into silence. Then she pulled away and nodded, "I'll do it."

Quinn smiled, "What?"

"I'll do it." Santana repeated, "And I'm scared but you're my girlfriend so I'm going to make it known."

"Okay..."

Santana walked off and out of the bathroom, leaving Quinn a little amazed that she convinced her.

Santana walked back into the cafeteria, the student body back to not caring about them while Finn, Sam, and Puck perked up at the sight of her.

Finn stood up, "What did she say?"

"She, um," Santana put her hands on her hips, pumping herself up, "She will not be going to the prom with you."

Finn sighed, "Is it because of that guy she's dating?"

"Nope." Santana took a moment to think about what she was about to do, "Its because she's going with me."

Finn gave her a confused look while Puck smiled hard.

"Yep, she's my date. Cause we're dating." Santana clarified, "Like in real life. Real life dating. Actual dating."

Finn processed the information before saying a little too loudly, "You're gay?"

"Um," Santana motioned for him to wait as she cleared her throat and gathered everyone in the room's attention, "Hey everyone! Um, I'm sure you weren't wondering but Quinn is not going to the prom with this oof. She's going with me. Cause we're dating. And I'm... pretty gay. So that's it."

There was a pregnant silence before one of the lacrosse players decided to ask, "So you're a dyke?"

Suddenly all the fear that Santana was feeling was replaced with annoyance and indifference.

Santana sighed, knowing being pleasant to these people was the wrong approach, "Sure, also I've just become even better than you cause while I'm dating Quinn Fabray, the last person to have sucked your dick was your sister."

A large part of the room laughed and Santana rolled her eyes as she began to exit the room, "Anyways, vote me or Quinn for prom queen. One of us has to win!"

The room clapped and Santana shook her head at her peers, not liking any of them or the fact that she knew how to work the room so easily.

Finn stopped her before she exited all the way, "You're just saying that, right? You and Quinn aren't..."

"Yep. Me and Q are like a thing." Santana smiled, "Feels good to finally say that."

"That's impossible." Finn shook his head, "Quinn's not gay."

"She's a little gay."

"No, she's not."

"Okay, dude." Santana moved to walk around him but he stopped her again, "You're so annoying. No wonder she broke up with you."

"I don't know why you're doing this but it's not funny."

"I know it's not funny."

"Then why are you doing this. Why are you saying that you and Quinn are... dating?"

"I don't know. Maybe cause we are?" Santana pushed him out of her way, "Look I get it. Berry wouldn't be my first choice either, but she really likes you and you don't have Quinn so what else is there. Plus Berry isn't even that bad, like she's your type of annoying but like she'd do anything for you. So figure your shit out. And leave Quinn alone."

Santana waved at him as she skipped out into the hallway.

 **XXX**

Quinn hated sports.

Correction, she hated watching sports.

Correction again, she hated watching her school play sports. They weren't very good and lost around 80% of their games. It was always a risk of wasting time going to these games and the Cheerios had to go to almost every single one of them.

Quinn didn't understand why they were taking funding out of the art department and not the sports department. Members of the McKinley were literally tumbling and falling right in front of her. Stupid would rather be outside in the rain than sitting in the auditorium watching this basketball game.

And the Cheerios had to smile and cheer as the ball slipped from the McKinley team's hands and rolled under the bleachers.

Quinn gave Santana a quick look, the girl rolling her eyes as the boys tripped and fell over each other jogging to go get the ball.

The brunette had been taking the whole "coming out to the student body" pretty well. People, in the beginning, seemed to want to ask them questions about their relationship anytime they could, whether they were prying or being plain rude.

Quinn was a bit worried at first that they'd be kicked off the team by angry, homophobic parents but nothing happened. She was also waiting for her parents to find out about it, her mom was on the PTA so she should have heard about it by now.

It was all a bit surprising but they weren't the most sinful people on the team. Literally, Brie had taken the attention from off of them by getting caught in a relationship with a teacher, and yet she's still on the team.

The game ended abruptly, McKinley lost by 40 points. Quinn sighed in relief and went to walk over to the pompoms to pack them up.

"Hey!" Quinn looked over her shoulder to see Finn jogging up to her. He had slipped on his letterman jacket and had a towel around her neck. He looked like a movie character which, when Quinn first arrived in this school, she found it endearing. But endearing doesn't mean attractive, she found that out later on.

Quinn gave him a polite smile, "Hey, Finn."

"I'll help you out there." He bent down and stuffed the pompoms into a large duffle bag. Once he was finished, he stood up and laid the strap of the bag carefully against her shoulder, "Can I ask you something?"

Quinn furrowed her brow, "Maybe."

Finn motioned behind her, "You happy with her?"

Quinn looked over to see Santana obviously giving Sam a sarcastic answer to whatever he was talking about. She couldn't help the slight smile growing on her mouth as she answered, "Yeah, she's great."

"Do you think your parents are going to be happy with this?" Finn asked.

Quinn looked back at him, her smile disappearing, "They're not going to hear about it."

Finn nodded and stuffed his hands into his pockets, "You should tell them. They deserve the truth."

Quinn gave a bitter laugh, "They deserve to live in a happy, blissful ignorance of my personal life."

"Everyone deserves the truth." Finn said this with his shoulders squared and chin up, "Either you tell them or I tell them."

Quinn squared her jaw, feeling more annoyance than fear, "Or maybe you can mind your business."

"I can't. This involves me too-"

"No, it doesn't, Finn." Quinn couldn't believe that Finn was coming at her with his white knight bullshit. Especially since it wasn't going to help her at all in this moment, "Speaking of honesty, Finn, to be honest, I'm not sure they'd even believe you. You come to my house and say that I left you for my best friend and I'll just say that you were still mad that I left you because you couldn't keep your hands to yourself. My folks will want to believe anything that isn't gay."

"You're not gay, though. I know you're not!"

Quinn folded her arms, "I may not be 100% gay but come on. So many signs…"

"Okay, you know what," Finn put up his hand to stop her from continuing before he gave her intense look, "None of the other guys believe you're both gay either. So we're going to prove it."

"Like how?"

"Like we made a bet to see who could change your minds," Finn looked like he felt bad saying that out loud, "No one is going to try with you, though. I told them you're a… prude. But Santana has been known to get around, so she's a-"

"What are you talking about?" Quinn took a deep breath as to not react violently, "You can't just… You can't… How dare you."

"You're acting like we're doing something wrong! We're not the ones pretending to be gay for attention," Finn acted like it was obvious, "Besides, Sam is everything she wants."

He pointed towards Sam and Santana, "He's literally a guy version of you. When she figures that out, she'll have you both quit the charade and go back to normal."

"I can't make this any more simple than this, Santana is gay and I'm with her."

"We'll see."

"There's no we'll see-" Quinn took another breath, feeling her veins bubble up with anger. She knew this feeling well and had seen its results first hand from her father. Like him, she can only hold it in for so long, "Am I speaking English? Am I being clear? What aren't you getting? You and your friends are not welcomed. Santana is my girlfriend and you can't change our sexualities with your willpower."

"Of course willpower won't work. But Santana's always been a bit easy so Sam would just have to remind her-"

"Stop talking! I swear to God, Finn-"

"Or what Quinn? We're in public and I bet a hundred bucks you wouldn't want Santana seeing your mean side." Finn shook his head at her, "What are you going to do? Make me feel bad about myself?"

Quinn dropped her duffle bag and slapped him firmly on the cheek. She almost had to jump up to hit him and ended up putting her body weight into it, staggering him back a bit. He looked up at her, taken back, and touched his lip which she had split on accident.

It must have been her dad's promise ring. That man was lethal even when wasn't around.

Quinn looked behind her to where Santana was still talking to Sam, the boy touching her hand and looking at her nails. Quinn felt the rage again, not caring enough to swallow it down like usual and stopped her way over.

Before they had a chance to greet her, Quinn slapped Sam's hands away from Santana's and pushed the boy into the bleachers behind him. He fell backwards onto them and tried to crawl away when Quinn stomped a foot between his legs. She was close enough to snag his pants but just a centimeter away from stomping hard onto his crotch.

"Hey, hey, hey! What the heck, Quinn!" Sam tried to scoot away but her foot held him in place.

"Listen to me! And I want you to tell you your greasy loser friends, too." Quinn growled at him in an even voice, "Never talk to Santana without me being there and if you hit on her again, I will literally smash your poor excuse for a manhood so hard that your inbred ancestors will cry in pain."

"Okay! Okay!"

"Repeat it."

"What?"

"Repeat it back to me!"

"I, um-"

"Repeat to me what I just said to you!"

"Don't talk to Santana! Don't hit on Santana!"

Quinn waited until he repeated it before stepping off of the bleacher and turning to Santana, who looked shocked and a little scared. Quinn motioned for her to follow her, "Let's go, Santana. Grab your stuff."

Santana nodded and picked up a bag before following Quinn.

Before Quinn could completely exit the auditorium, Dave opened the door for her and said, "You both are still invited to the after party if you want to come."

Quinn glared at him, "Does it look like I want to go to the after party? The team lost."

Quinn stomped out of the auditorium with Santana in tow.

Once the outside air hit Quinn she felt a lot better. She took a deep breath and began walking to Santana's car.

"Can I ask you about what happened in there?" Santana asked carefully.

"Can I ask you why every boy in our class is a misogynistic idiot?" Quinn walked up to the passenger side and looked at Santana from over the car, "Well, maybe not Mike or Kurt. But there's still time."

Santana gave her a look before they both got into the car. The brunette immediately turned on the air conditioning and they sat there for a moment, letting Quinn relax.

"Sorry," Quinn said quietly. She didn't want to scare Santana, but the look on the girl's face said otherwise, "I know that looked bad but Finn mentioned some sort of bet between the guys to turn us straight and he insinuated that Sam was going to change you."

"You and I both know that wouldn't happen? Sam's not my type." Santana reassured.

"I know. But Finn made it seem like… They were going to force the change, you know." Quinn felt the adrenaline from earlier dissipate and replace with sadness and a touch of fear. She looked over to Santana, "He just freaked me out and I don't want anything bad to happen to you."

"So, what? You're going to fight everyone who threatens me like that?"

Quinn nodded, "I'll try."

"Jesus Christ, Quinn," Santana rolled her eyes as she smiled, "You'd fight the whole basketball team for me?"

Quinn nodded harder, "I'd fight the basketball team and the football team and even the lacrosse-"

Santana surged forward to connect their lips together for a passionate kiss. Quinn was a bit surprised but smiled into the kiss when she felt Santana's hand on the back of her head to bring them closer together.

Santana pulled away slightly enough so that she could talk lightly against Quinn's lip, "You're so hot, Q."

Quinn laughed, roaming her hand and up and down Santana's arm, "Only you would think me knocking a few boys around is romantic."

"Mami always told me to find someone who'd fight the world for me. I hope you know I'd do the same."

Quinn nodded her head and pulled Santana back into a kiss. This one was more slow and sensual. Usually, Quinn didn't like tongue kissing, but Santana was really good at it and the way the brunette's free hand was creeping up her thigh made Quinn clench her legs together.

"This feels amazing, but," Quinn pushed her away slightly, "Maybe we should go somewhere else. Especially since I assaulted two students just a few moments ago."

"You're right." Santana pushed herself fully back into her seat and fixed her ponytail before looking over to Quinn, "Two students?"

Quinn gave her an innocent smile and Santana laughed as she put on her seatbelt and backed up the car.

Once at her house, Quinn and Santana tripped up the brunette's stairs, laughing and giggling until they got to Santana's room. Once inside, Quinn jumped onto Santana's bed while Santana closed the door.

"I thought you were going to hate me." Quinn stated with a laugh as she bounced on the bed for a few moments.

"For what?" Santana shook her hair out of her ponytail.

"For getting angry like my dad."

Santana gave her a look, "You're nothing like your dad."

"At least Sam will never bother you again." Quinn pulled Santana towards her and wrapped her legs around the girl's thighs, "Fuck that guy."

Santana smirked, "You know what you do to me when you say the f-word."

"Yes, I fucking do." Quinn pulled Santana down into a deep kiss and letting the girl fall onto her.

They kissed for a few moments, both of them enjoying the feel of each other before Santana began to kiss her neck. Then she scooted down to the opening between Quinn's top and skirt, kissing the abs peaking between the garnets.

"Oh, San." Quinn shivered and raked her hands through Santana's hair, "That feels really good, hun."

"Mhm." Santana kissed her again and ran her fingers against the hemline of Quinn's skirt, "Do you want me to go lower?"

Quinn bit her lip, "I don't know."

Santana looked up, "We don't have to do anything you don't want to."

"I know." Quinn rolled a strand of Santana's hair in her hand, "I just don't know."

Santana shrugged, "Just tell me what you want me to do."

Quinn nodded, "Okay."

Santana smiled and lifted back up to kiss Quinn's lips, more than happy just to make out if anything.

Quinn let her hands roam Santana's body, letting her hands find their way under her cheerleading skirt to grip Santana's rear. Her grip was a bit limited due to the skirt, "You should take these off."

"Take these off?" Santana confirmed before pushing off Quinn and standing up. Instead of immediately doing it, she walked over to her speaker and turned on a song that Quinn didn't recognize and began to sway her hips.

Quinn giggled, "What are you doing?"

Santana moved to the beat and began to unzip her skirt, "You told me to take these off."

"And you can't do it normally?" Quinn asked distractedly watching Santana's body move.

"Of course not." Santana winked at her as she moved to her top, slipping off her body easily and tossing it to Quinn.

Quinn laughed as she moved the top off of her, letting eyes wander as Santana bent over and slipped off her skirt. She stepped out the skirt and strutted over to Quinn and crawled over her until their mouths were touching again, "Can I take yours off, too?"

Quinn didn't say anything as she nodded against Santana's lips, feeling as though she was burning up under her cheer uniform. Santana carefully reached for the bottom of Quinn's top before lifting it above Quinn's head and off the girl.

Santana smiled at the sight before her, Quinn's pale skin under a lacy bra. Santana ran her fingers over it, "Is this new?"

Quinn held in a moan at the feeling of Santana barely touching her, "Yeah. Bought a matching set."

"Of course you did. Let me see." Santana unzipped Quinn's skirt and slowly dragged it down the girl's legs. Once she was fully out of it, Santana let her fingers run down Quinn's chest, "You're so pretty, Q."

"You're one to talk," Quinn moved to touch Santana but was stopped.

"You don't have to do anything. Just tell me what you want." Santana laid next to Quinn but sat up enough so that she was over her, "But I want you to go first. You can stop me anytime you feel weird or don't want to do something."

"Sure." Quinn gave a nervous smile.

"I'll just do what I think I'd like." Santana said more towards herself than anything before laying back down and kissing Quinn again. Santana waited awhile for Quinn to relax into the kiss again before letting her hand roam.

Quinn remembered being intimate with Jenny back in the day. She never used to get anything out of it and felt terrible after it was done. She had only felt one thing the first time it happened and it was before anything actually happened. The anticipation and fantasy of the entire thing had made Quinn keen for anything. She was extremely disappointed afterward.

But with Santana, she was surprisingly having a lot of fun. Santana seemed to know exactly what she was doing but didn't mind that Quinn was nervous and many times didn't know where to put her hands. They'd just laugh it off and Santana would kiss her and Quinn would relax.

Then Quinn felt Santana's fingers inside of her and she was surprised that it felt that way. That it felt good.

Quinn had to stop Santana, though, grabbing the girl's arm and closing her legs against and squeezing Santana's wrist, "Wait. Wait, oh my god."

Santana stopped, letting her free hand move some hair from Quinn's forehead, "You alright?"

"It's just-" Quinn swallowed hard and opened her eyes to look at Santana, "I feel like I'm going to lose control."

Santana smiled, "Is that a bad thing?"

"I guess not."

"Don't worry I'll be right here the whole time." Santana gave her a wink.

Quinn nodded and leaned towards Santana to kiss the girl again and let her legs fall back open.

Santana waited a moment before continuing, letting her finger massage firmly inside of Quinn, "Just tell me if you're not feeling this, Fabray."

Quinn took in a hollow breath and let her hand fall to the back of Santana's neck, "It would be impossible not to feel this."

"Mhm." Santana leaned down to kiss Quinn's chin and then her neck as she stroked her thumb around Quinn's clit.

The feeling became overwhelming quickly and Quinn arched into Santana's hand as she became undone properly for the first time. She didn't know what she moaned out when it hit her but she was sure that she had never felt anything like it before. Santana's fingers kept hitting the right spot while Quinn couldn't help the moans leaving her, the pitch of each becoming higher and higher with each stroke. She pulled Santana's body closer to her own, hooking a leg around Santana's waist and digging her nails into Santana's arm.

As she came down and her body twitched, she raised her hand to her eyes and tears began to form.

Santana wiped the tears away, "That's wasn't too bad."

Quinn opened her eyes to look at her girlfriend, a lazy smile breaking out on her face, "Understatement."

Santana kissed her tenderly, "I'm just going to take my fingers back now."

Quinn nodded, her whole body twitching once the fingers were removed. She stopped Santana as the girl almost put those fingers into her own mouth, "What are you doing?"

Santana gave her a look, "I'm going to taste you."

Quinn bit her lip, a little concerned that her saying that was just enough to make her aroused once again, "Do people do that?"

Santana nodded, "But I won't if you don't want me to."

Quinn furrowed her brows, "I don't know."

"That's fine, Q." Santana kissed Quinn as she wiped her fingers against her bed, "Next time then."

Quinn smiled into the kiss and prolonged it, holding Santana's face close with both her hands.

 **XXX**

When Quinn woke up she was laying in Santana's arms, the brunette was combing her fingers softly through her hair. Quinn smiled, though she hadn't heard it yet, she hadn't felt more loved before by anyone she'd known.

Quinn moved herself to kiss Santana's neck, bringing the shorter girl out from whatever she was thinking about.

"How long have I been out?" Quinn asked against her neck, her voice a little hoarse as she spoke.

"Just a little while."

Quinn sat up and stretched, "I'm super thirsty."

"I'll get you something-"

"No, no. I'll get it. You've done a lot for me already." Quinn leaned over to kiss her, "Be right back."

Santana nodded and watched Quinn get out of bed, the blonde taking a moment to find a robe in Santana's closet.

Quinn skipped out of the room, singing a song under her breath as she made her way to the kitchen. She opened up the fridge, grabbing two water bottles before closing it. She was surprised to see someone standing by the island behind her in the kitchen.

It took a moment before she realized who it was, "Mrs. Lopez! Hi! Wow. You scared me."

"Sorry." Maribel put her purse on the counter and looked Quinn up and down, "Whats going on? Where're your clothes?"

"Um." Quinn swallowed hard, understanding how weird it must have looked for her to be standing in this woman's house in nothing but a robe. And her hair probably looked a mess. She patted down her hair as she said the first thing that came to her mind, "Santana and I had gone shopping and we were trying on the new clothes but I got thirsty. So I did a quick snack run."

Maribel didn't look convinced.

"Quinn, what is taking you so long? I was hoping we'd have time for another round-" Santana said loudly as she walked into the kitchen in only a long t-shirt. Once she saw her mother she slowed down and pulled the shirt lower, "Another round of goldfish. Cause you won the last one and I'm super competitive. Oh, hi, Mami! You're home!"

"I am." Maribel looked between them both and folded her arms, "Is someone else going to come down the stairs half naked?"

Santana looked at Quinn in panic, "Maybe?"

Maribel hummed in understanding, "How about you both go get dressed and come back down here with a really good reason for this. And one that I'm not thinking of."

Quinn nodded and pushed Santana towards the stairs.

Once in Santana's room, Santana paced the room, "So what do we tell her?"

Quinn sat down on the bed, "The truth."

Santana paused, "And come out to my mom? I'm not ready. Are you ready?"

"Not really but your mom is a lawyer so she'll see right through us." Quinn sighed, "We just have to beg her not to tell my parents."

"Or my abuela." Santana folded her arms, "She'll disown me."

They both looked at each other, both silently dealing with the situation before moving to get dressed. When they were done, they found Maribel in the family room with a glass of wine in her hand.

They sat on a couch across from her and she motioned at them with her hand, "So... is there something you both want to tell me?"

"Not really." Santana mumbled as she folded her arms.

"Excuse me?"

"She didn't mean it, Mrs. Lopez. She's just scared." Quinn tried to relax them both.

"So you know my daughter more than me now?" Maribel asked, relaxation not in her view.

"She actually does." Santana commented, "Especially right now."

"What is that suppose to mean?"

"What Santana is trying to say is that we, um..." Quinn didn't know how to put it without saying it and she really didn't want to say it.

"Quinn and I are sleeping together." Santana blurted out.

"What?!" Maribel stood to her feet.

Quinn groaned, "Jesus Christ, Santana. No, we're not sleeping together. We're in a relationship together. I don't know why she said it like that."

"So you're not sleeping together?"

"I mean... we are... we just started-"

"Ay diós mío!" Maribel placed her hands over her mouth and sat back down, "Are you punishing your father and I for not being there for you? I knew you slept around but I didn't know it was this bad."

"I don't sleep around and this is not about you." Santana clarified.

"Oh, it's not?" Maribel looked around for some sort of answer, "What about Noah Puckerman? I thought you two were something?"

"No way. He's my best friend, that's it."

"I thought Quinn was your best friend and _that's it_."

Quinn looked down and Santana put a hand on the girl's lower back, "That's enough, Ma! You're upsetting Quinn."

"I'm upsetting you? How am I suppose to feel when my daughters a..." Maribel looked up and try to get out the right words, "What will your father say? What will your grandmother say? You will give her a heart attack!"

"I don't know what they'll say but-"

"Maybe this is just a phase. I mean you both have been spending a lot of time together."

"It's not a-"

"That's it! I forbid you both from seeing each other!"

"No, that's not fair!"

"Life's not fair."

"Estoy enamorado de ella y no estaremos separados solo porque estás siendo intolerante!" Santana snapped.

Maribel gasped, "I can't even look at you right now. Go up to your room! The both of you. With the door open!"

Santana stood up and walked out of the room, Quinn barely able to scurry off after her without looking at Maribel's face.

Santana slammed the door shut once they walked into the room and sighed, "Well that could have been worse."

"Are you serious?" Quinn slouched onto Santana's bed, tears forming in her eyes, "Your mom hates me. She hates me."

"She doesn't hate you."

"Were we in the same room?" Quinn stumbled over her words, "If she reacted that way, then I can only imagine how my dad will react. He'll kill me."

"That's just how my mom always acts." Santana sat next to Quinn, "She freaked out like that when I started my period in the fifth grade. Just give her a few minutes."

"A few minutes? Santana, she hates me." Quinn looked at her hands, "I don't know if we could be together if she hates me like that."

"Of course we can." Santana pointed towards the door just as suddenly someone knocked at it, "Besides, we won't have to worry about that. Come in!"

Maribel peaked in, tears in her eyes, "Can I come in?"

"Of course, Mami."

Maribel walked in and clutched her chest once she saw the look on Quinn's face, "Oh, no, Quinn. I'm so sorry. I overreacted."

She came over and embraced Quinn in a tight hug, while the blonde looked over her shoulder in confusion towards Santana.

Maribel pulled away but kept her hands on Quinn's biceps, "Please do not cry, Bonita."

Quinn nodded, "Okay?"

Maribel reached for Santana's hand, "I cannot be mad at you both for something you can't control. Besides, Quinn is a good catch, Santana. I was worried you'd either be alone or with Noah and I couldn't think of what would be worse."

"But now I'm just gay." Santana said with a sigh.

"And that's nothing to be ashamed of." Maribel placed a hand on Santana's cheek, "You are still my daughter."

Santana and Quinn smiled.

Maribel stood up, "We can't tell your abuela, though. Ella no entendería."

"Or my parents. Especially my dad." Quinn piped in.

Maribel nodded, "Deal. But an open door policy is now enacted."

"Yes, ma'am." Santana crossed her heart.

"Will you be staying for dinner, Bonita?" Maribel asked on her way out of the room.

"That would be great, Mrs. Lopez." Quinn smiled hard, more than relieved that Maribel didn't hate her.

"Call me Maribel. Mrs. Lopez reminds me of some old person which I am not." Maribel said on her way out, leaving the door completely ajar.

"Told yah." Santana said to Quinn with a smile.

"That was a rollercoaster ride."

"Yeah." Santana pulled Quinn into an embrace, "Are you down for a quickie before dinner?"

Quinn kissed her on the cheek and stood up, "No way. Not with your mom home."

"So if she wasn't home?"

"Can you just give me a second to reel in what just happened." Quinn laughed. Then she paused and looked over to Santana, "Did you say that you're in love with me?"

"What? When?"

"Downstairs."

"No."

"It was in Spanish."

"No. I guess you need some practice." Santana stood up, "I need to like use the bathroom or something. Be right back."

Santana ran out of the room before Quinn could say anything and the blonde stood still for a moment as she tried to remember exactly what Santana said earlier.


	20. Chapter 20

**Hey y'all, here's a chapter cause I didn't forget about this.**

Santana closed her front door behind her, letting a small skip hiccup between her steps down her driveway and towards Quinn's house. The weather had finally cleared up and left behind a nice damp evening that balanced the heat from earlier in the day. The air had that type of strange cool humidity that always put Quinn in an adventurous mood and Santana was up taking the blonde out for fun.

She hoped that Quinn would be grateful for the distraction as much as she was. Though Santana's brother was home from school and her mother was supposed to be using some of her vacation days this week, the house was empty. It wasn't anything new but when the sun barely peaked behind heavy clouds, it made her feel just as heavy. This was the type of weather that put her in her worst moods and, if she was being honest, messed up her impulse control. She did anything to distract herself and Puck was usually more than happy to join her into trouble.

But now that she has someone like Quinn around her it was like a lot of her worst days felt warmer. Plus Santana got into a lot less trouble with Quinn around, it was basically impossible. Like the worst Santana could do was get the other girl pregnant which at this present age is probably biologically impossible.

She rang her girlfriend's doorbell, turning away slightly to finally notice all the cars parked in Quinn's driveway. The cars all looked the same, expensive and a dark color. It looked like the Fabrays were hosting government agents or something.

She turned backed to the door as it opened, smiling as Quinn came into full view, "You guys having a funeral?"

Quinn gave a slight smile as she leaned against the door frame. She was wearing a Church-like eggshell dress and rolling a glass of ice water between her hands. Her eyes screamed exhausted and even her voice was slightly hoarse, "My dad's hosting a party."

"Oh." Santana gave her a once over, "You look pretty."

Santana watched as Quinn barely reacted to her compliment, "You okay?"

Quinn shook her head, "Let's go get high."

Santana furrowed her brows, "High? On what?"

"You know."

Santana gave her a funny look, "It can't be that bad."

"It is."

Santana didn't respond as someone opened up the door wider, they being Quinn's mother making room for herself to gaze upon whoever Quinn was talking to.

When Judy fully made her presence known, she gave Santana a polite smile, "Well hello there. You must be here for Quinn."

Santana nodded, "But it looks like she's a bit busy-"

"Well, only somewhat busy." Judy paused in thought before giving a wider smile, "You know what? Why don't you join us? Quinnie here has been in such a sour mood. Maybe a bit more young blood could perk her up for our guests."

Both Quinn and Santana voiced weak arguments against that, but Judy motioned the brunette in either way before closing the front door and advising Quinn to introduce her friend to the guests.

Quinn nodded as her mother walked away and looked at Santana with guilty eyes, "I'm so sorry that you've been roped into this."

Santana shrugged, "No big. Besides, old people are fun. I'll show you."

Santana put out her hand and Quinn grabbed it instinctually. The blonde barely had a moment before Santana dragged her into the family room toward the crowd of adults.

An hour later and Santana had made herself the most popular person at the party. Half of the crowd eyed her suspiciously while the other couldn't get enough of her. Quinn was by her side the entire time, holding in her laughter while becoming increasingly impressed with how the girl dominated the room. The way she talked to these people reminded Quinn of how Santana talked to potential recruits for the Cheerios. With just enough confidence to show authority but just a sprinkle of charm to get them intrigued.

If Santana had used this tactic when they first met, Quinn would have been a mess over her. Well, more than she already was.

"Your friend seems nice." Russel voiced next to her. He had been one of those cautiously eyeing Santana from across the room and Quinn supposed that he'd finally become curious enough to come over.

Quinn tapped Santana's shoulder, pulling her away from a conversation to turn the girl towards her father, "Santana this is my dad."

Santana gave him a smile and put out her hand for him to shake, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Fabray."

"You as well." He shook her hand but didn't seem too impressed. The feeling was mutual, "I saw you making rounds through the room and felt hurt that you've yet to talk to me. The host."

"Last but not least, I guess."

Russell gave a sour look before taking a swig of his whiskey at hand, "You're on the cheerleading team with Quinn?"

"Yep. We're co-captains."

"Yes, I've heard. That must make for a fun rivalry."

"We're best when we work together. As a team."

"Sure. Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Um-"

"She does." Quinn interjected, knowing her father would ask this at some point, "He's blonde. Very handsome."

Santana gave Quinn a look but agreed, "Yep, very handsome."

"That's great. Maybe you can give Quinn some advice on how to find one." He gave a laugh, "She's extremely unlucky in the love department. Isn't that right, Lucy?"

Quinn looked off to the side and nodded.

"I wouldn't say unlucky." Santana put a hand on Quinn's arm, "She just hasn't found a guy up to her standards. Which is something you'd want as a father, right? Wouldn't want her to settle for some loser. That'll just reflect poorly on you."

Russell furrowed his brow, "Well... You have a point-"

"You should want what's best for her." Santana stared him down.

Quinn was shocked to see her own father look away in embarrassment. She didn't know if she had ever seen that before and it made her feel both embarrassed for him and stronger than she'd felt in a long time.

She cleared her throat, "I think that's enough socializing for us. Santana and I are going to leave you and your guests to adult talk. How's that sound, daddy?"

He looked at her and gave her a nod, "Go on then."

Quinn gave him a smile and dragged Santana upstairs, the brunette waving to her new friends as they ascended the stairs.

When Quinn shut her bedroom door she gave Santana a look, "I can't believe you talked to him like that."

"Well no offense, Q, but your dad's a bitch. By the way," Santana pulled something that been sticking out of her back pocket all evening, "I got you some expensive ass pencils that are like charcoal or something. The lady at the store said they're like good for hardcore drawing, whatever the fuck that means, so knock yourself out."

Santana tossed the small package into Quinn's hands before tossing herself onto Quinn's bed, "Old people make me tired. Might needs a nap."

Quinn placed the pencils down on her dresser as she looked at Santana, her heart feeling full and warm as she stared at someone so brave that they'd stick up for her in front of a man Quinn's been afraid of for most of her life. Quinn wanted to spend every moment of her life with this girl, she just didn't know how.

Quinn walked over to the bed and sat down next to the other girl, "Before you pass out, let me thank you for what you did downstairs."

"It's called girlfriend duties, Fabray. No thanks necessary."

"Mhm." Quinn leaned over to kiss Santana's cheek, and then her jaw, and then her neck.

"Oh, it's that kind of thanks!"

Quinn laughed against her neck as she continued to kiss, moving her right hand to move to the top of Santana's jeans to rest on the girl's abdomen. She didn't start to unbuckle Santana's jeans until their lips connected and as she let her hand thank Santana in ways her words couldn't, she let her mind fantasize the ways she could spend her life with her.

 **XXX**

Quinn watched as Kurt won prom queen. She could physically taste the disappointment on her tongue but mostly the bitterness of her classmates' intolerance lingering in the air. She knew why Kurt won, but she couldn't figure out how they managed to do it without her knowing.

And by the look on Santana's face, she was sure that her girlfriend was trying to figure out who managed to do it. Maybe next year they could rig it the right way.

As the queen and king slow danced awkwardly in the middle of the dance floor, Quinn turned to Santana to whisper in her ear, "Wanna ditch?"

Santana gave her a look, "I've been trying to ditch from the get-go, Princess."

Quinn smirked and took the girl's hand, zigzagging them through the crowd and out of the auditorium. As she led them off through the hallway, she turned to Santana, "Would it be cliche to break into the pool?"

"Yep."

Quinn hit the door to her destination with the palm of her hand, "Then we'll go to the roof."

"But it's cold," Santana let out a weak whine as she was lead up the stairs towards the roof that she'd never been to.

It was anything but cold outside, the weather surprisingly warm for the spring but that didn't stop Santana from playfully complaining. Quinn didn't mind it, leading them over to a blanket she had set up earlier today. She quickly bent over and plugged in her lights that brightened the roof with floating twinkles.

Quinn looked over to Santana, hoping to catch the girl's eyes softening to the scene she copied out of a 90s movie. Those were Santana's favorite types of movies, but the girl just gave a slightly impressed look before taking a seat on the blanket.

Quinn always had an idea… or more like a fantasy about prom. When she was eleven years old she had continuously marathoned teen romances with her sister. She wasn't a big fan of the writing or most of the acting, but many of the climaxes of those movies ended up at prom.

Love declarations and amending friendships seemed to happen at prom and those were the things that Quinn wanted. She wanted to feel desired and included.

That night, her younger self dreamt of winning prom queen at her imaginary high school, her classmates cheering her on and balloons falling from the colorful ceiling above. A beautiful boy had placed a tiara on her head and laid a kiss on her cheek during this dream, and she felt wanted.

She was immediately hyped for her future prom, even when she had the exact same dream the next night but with her history teacher, Mrs. Doughtry, kissing her cheek instead of a random boy.

Now that prom was actually here, it was a little different. It was only junior prom. She didn't win prom queen. She didn't have a beautiful boy kissing her.

But she did have the most wonderful (and beautiful) girl in the world on her arm. And she did fill the auditorium with balloons.

With all the disappointing things that she'd experienced over the years, sitting on the roof with Santana felt like a new fantasy that she'd never thought of before. And it was satisfying.

After sitting for a while, enjoying each other's company, Quinn jolted forward, "We're going to miss the last dance."

Santana groaned, "Do we have to go back?"

Quinn shook her head as she reached behind them to lift a metal flap connected to a vent, letting out a light echo of music and chatter from the auditorium right below them. Then she stood up and put out her hand towards the other girl, "Last dance, San."

Santana let out a small laugh and took the hand, letting herself get pulled into an embrace and then something close to a waltz, "You trying to get into my pants, Fabray?"

"Already been there." Quinn joked back softly, letting their bodies sway with the music and trying not to lose herself entirely to Santana, "I was hoping to make this last longer."

"We can make this last however long you want."

Quinn rested her forehead against Santana's as they swayed.

Quinn didn't know whether it was the soft caress of Santana's hand on her lower back or the soft scent of blossoms from the blooming trees right below the edge of the roof, but Quinn felt like she needed to get something off her chest. Like a small compression that's release bubbled onto her tongue like a sweet champagne.

It was kind of annoying how nervous she became when telling Santana how she felt about her. Whether it was simply telling her how cool she thought she was when they first met or how much she cared for her in a romantic way.

Santana has yet to turn her down, so what was the issue? Besides, proms were meant for declarations.

Quinn pulled back slightly to look Santana in the eye. She was greeted with a pleasant smile from Santana, one of the smiles that were solely saved for Quinn. Then she opened her mouth, but nothing came out so she shook her head at herself and rested her head on the shorter girl's shoulder.

"You were gonna say something?" Santana whispered. When Quinn shook her head, Santana shook the girl off her shoulder, "What is it?"

"I was just going to say..." Quinn looked away, her voice no louder than a hum.

"Hmm?"

"Something... something a little gay."

"Something gay?" Santana let a small laugh come out of her before taking one of Quinn's hands and bringing it to the smile on her lips, "Won't be your first time, Fabray."

She gave the blonde's fingers a sensual kiss before continuing their sway silently to the music for a few moments, "So, what were you gonna say?"

Quinn cringed before letting out a deep sigh, "You can't tell anyone I'm saying this to you right now."

Santana giggled, "The hell you about to tell me, Fabray?"

Quinn hesitated before realizing the last song was almost over and once it was over, this fantasy would probably halt with it, "I... think I've fallen in love with you, San."

Though Quinn's voice was barely louder than a mumble, Santana's eyes widened like the girl had yelled.

The sway had stopped, Santana was frozen, and Quinn was feeling the panic rise in her chest.

"Really?" Santana managed and Quinn nodded hard, "I've never... Quinn, no one's ever..."

Santana looked down and Quinn felt tears warm her eyes as she watched the other girl.

Then the brunette looked back up, tears in her own eyes and a soft smile gracing her lips, "I love you, too, Q."

Quinn let out a deep breath and wiped a tear escaping her eye, "You had me worried there."

Santana moved to wipe away the other tears that had managed to fall from Quinn's eyes, "Sorry about that."

Quinn gave a relieved laugh, "I thought you were going to break up with me or something."

"For like what?" Santana pulled the other girl into an embrace.

"I'm not sure," Quinn let her fingers run through the ends of Santana's hair, "You've just been really hard to read tonight."

"I barely know how to act with all this romantic shit you've been doing."

"I just wish I get inside of you sometimes, to know what you're thinking."

Santana leaned slightly away to eye Quinn, "You can get inside of me anytime, Fabray."

She wiggled her eyebrows and Quinn rolled her eyes.

"It's always back to sex with you." Quinn chastised with a smile.

"What? You don't want to get inside me?" Santana said, moving to kiss the side of Quinn's jaw.

Quinn smiled, her declaration going almost as perfectly as she could have hoped, and turned her face to kiss Santana. She gave her the sweetest kiss that she could, one that made her herself feel like a firework was going off inside of her body.

Then she felt Santana's tongue against her own and she was almost immediately on her back, laying on the blanket she had laid out earlier. If she couldn't tell how much Santana was feeling tonight, she could feel it now in the way her lips moved against Quinn's own.

A sudden sound of the roof door slamming made the girls jump and look towards the offense.

They pushed away from each other when Judy came into their sight. She looked slightly surprised but barely showed emotion as she motioned at Quinn, "Can I talk to you for a moment."

Quinn nodded, giving Santana a reassuring smile as she stood up and followed her mom back through the roof's door and a little down the dark steps for privacy, "I can explain."

"Can you?"

Quinn swallowed hard, she'd need a little more time to think of something plausible. So once she heard the roof door close behind them, she started somewhere else, "What are you doing here?"

Judy turned to face her daughter, fully insulted, "I'm chaperoning. I'm on the PTA... I don't need to explain myself to you. Now start over."

Quinn folded her arms and shrugged, "It really wasn't what it looked like-"

"Do you think I'm daft? I just told you that I'm on the PTA. Do you think I haven't heard the rumors about you two?"

Quinn paused, knowing that her mom had to know something by now. It still made her stomach nervously turn, "Then what do you want me to say?"

"I want you to stop wasting that girl's time."

Quinn's eyebrows raised, "Wasting her time? I'm not-"

"Your school is temporary. This town is temporary. And so is whatever is happening between you and your friend." Judy shook her head at her daughter like she was in disbelief that she even had to say this, "When you asked for advice about someone I thought you knew that this was only going to last during high-school. But if I ask you right now... How serious are you making this with her?"

Quinn took a moment to search for the right words, "It's not temporary."

Judy sighed, "Is she going to Yale with you? Did you forget your father's plan?"

"I'll take her. I don't care." Quinn felt herself starting to get choked up.

"What about her plans? Have you asked her about that? I won't have this distracting you-"

"You're just saying this because she's a girl, right? That's the issue."

"Quinn, I don't care about that. I never will." Judy took a step up towards her, "But, you know what, your father will. This all better be a phase, for your father's sake."

Quinn struck a tear away that suddenly fell to her cheek, "It's not a phase. I love her. And daddy's going to have to understand-"

"Did he understand last time?"

Quinn staggered a bit backward and almost tripping up a stair, hating hearing her mother bring up that sensitive topic in an argument, "It's not like last time. Santana's not forcing me to do anything I don't want to do."

Judy paused, a sad look in her eyes before she spoke, "If your father didn't understand what happened to you then, what's going to make this any different. It's only going to hurt more. Especially since you... care about her like this."

Quinn took in a strangled breath, "I love her, mom."

"Okay. I get that. But if you keep this up and your father finds out he'll take you away and you'll never see her again. It'll be without a goodbye and it'll hurt her more than you just ending it." Judy put her hand on her daughter's shoulder, "You don't have to do it tonight."

"I can't..." Quinn held onto the railing next to her, eyes cast down to the floor, "What do I do?"

"I really hate to say this. It kills me to say this but your father..." Judy said more to herself before squeezing Quinn's shoulder, "You'll need to be... straighter. For your father. Just until you can be on your own. Pay for your own things. I don't want him waving anything over your head."

Quinn didn't really know what to say, so she just shrugged.

"Be strong, Quinnie." Judy gave a weak smile, "You don't have to do it tonight. My timing seems so poor. Put on a happy face for your date. Make this a great night for her. Tell her what she wants to hear."

Quinn nodded as she stepped away from her mother, turning to head back upstairs while trying to think of something happy to show on her face. So much for the fantasy tonight.


	21. Chapter 21

Quinn watched as Santana packed her luggage, giving a slight tsk every time the brunette packed something short or flimsy.

Santana looked over at the girl sitting on her bed, "Maybe you should pack for me?"

"No, you're doing amazing." Quinn gave a tight-lipped smile.

Santana rolled her eyes and continued packing her luggage for her impromptu two week trip to Puerto Rico to visit her grandmother. The woman was supposed to be moving to Ohio but she refused to come back after a bad experience at a local grocery store and a clerk working there. Now it was Santana and her father's responsibility to change her mind and get her to come back with them.

Quinn was trying her hardest not to pout, the beginning of their summer completely off track thanks to this unplanned trip. She was also a bit worried.

She didn't want to be insecure about her girlfriend traveling so far but she couldn't help it. Summer was Santana's season and once the sun hit her, it was like she was refueled and a sight to see. Quinn selfishly wanted to keep Santana to herself, didn't want anyone else to see her at her prime.

What if in Puerto Rico, with her mood heightened thanks to finally seeing her grandmother, she meets someone. Meets someone better than Quinn. One thing that the blonde knew was that there was always someone out there better than you. A beautiful girl in Puerto Rico could be just enough to steal Santana away. Not that Santana would cheat on her but...

If Quinn was being honest she was mostly trying to distract herself from her mother's words on their relationship's impending doom. With Santana gone, she wasn't sure that her subconscious could keep her from her parent's wishes.

"I can feel you thinking." Santana paused her packing and gave Quinn a look.

"Sorry." Quinn looked down at her hands, one of Santana's shirts being picked between her fingers, "You're going to come back. Right?"

"Maybe." Santana joked with a shrug of her shoulder. When she didn't get the desired reaction from the other girl she sighed, "Of course I'll come back. You really think I'd ditch home just because Puerto Rico might possibly be more fun?"

Quinn didn't answer so Santana snatched the shirt away to gather her eyes on her own, "I love it when you're worried for no fucking reason."

Santana gave her a look before looking away, thinking to herself before pushing away from the bed, "B. R. B."

She walked out of the room only for a few moments before returning and placing a folded piece of paper on Quinn's thigh, leaving her hand sturdy on top of it. She leaned close to Quinn to whisper, "This is for you if you feel like you miss me too much. Just don't read it like right now, cause it's embarrassing."

Quinn looked down at Santana's hand and then back at her eyes, "I think I'll be fine without you for a couple of days, San. I'm not hopeless."

"I never said you were hopeless. But I can see it on your face, so I'm going to be serious with you for a minute and we're both going to say things that are usually cringy but will make us feel better. Then I will crack a joke and the air will be cleared. Comprende?" Santana squeezed Quinn's thigh willing Quinn to comply.

Quinn nodded and placed her hand over Santana's.

Santana took a deep breath, looked around and furrowed her brow in thought before looking back at Quinn, "I don't want to go... and leave for like two weeks. Without you."

Quinn took in that information, super short and to the point, without saying too much that'll make Santana gag at how mushy she was being. It was one of the things Quinn loved about her.

Quinn had her own struggle, trying to express her emotions after spending so much time learning to mask it all. She kind of felt like just pushing it down until it came bubbling up in an argument, "I'm worried you'll find someone else there."

"Where? In Puerto Rico?"

"Yeah."

Santana bit her cheek, taking another pause before saying, "There isn't anyone else."

"Santana-"

"There won't be anyone else." Santana looked hurt by that idea, almost offended, "I can't even imagine it."

Quinn watched, fully aware that she constantly imagined Santana finding someone better. Someone who deserved her. But she'd have to take Santana's word, "Okay."

"Cool." Santana leaned closer to kiss Quinn, the kiss that always made Quinn's eyes flutter even though they were already shut. Then Santana pulled away, allowing Quinn's hand to fall onto the note, and picked up the shirt Quinn was holding onto before, "Now for the joke."

Quinn watched in amusement as Santana cleared her throat before she said, "Now get off your fat ass and help me pack before I suggest to the parentals that you start paying rent with all the time you spend here."

"Is that the joke?" Quinn giggled as she stood up to her feet. She walked behind Santana, "Besides, I'm not the one with the fat ass."

Quinn slid her fingers down Santana's back until they reach her backside, gripping both cheeks over the girl's jeans roughly with her hands.

Santana gasped as she reached for her luggage on her bed to keep her from falling, "Quinn Fabray! My parents are home. If you're going to do that at least close the door."

Quinn smirked before giving a salute and moving to go close the door, "So long open door policy."

 **XXX**

A day and a half without Santana was boring and terrible and Quinn couldn't believe herself. She had spent fifteen years of her life without Santana and now she couldn't deal with a few weeks. What was worse was that Santana's phone reception was absolutely crap wherever the hell she was, so limited phone calls. It was so unfair.

Quinn laid in a lounge chair beside the pool in her backyard, staring at the empty chair next to her own. She groaned, "I can't do this."

"Quinnie!" A voice sang and Quinn sneered her teeth as Frannie made herself over and took the chair without asking permission, "Gosh, we never get to hang out with each other. Not enough sisterly time. Not enough sibling fun."

"I was just about to go inside-"

"Don't you dare! I just got out here." Frannie put her sunglasses over her eyes, "So I talked to Jenny and though she is a good friend of mine, I can't say that I feel sorry for her. I thought that if I told her about the new you, she'd be put off and intimidated to even be near you."

Quinn looked over to her sister, wondering if maybe Frannie was looking after her for once. Maybe she was trying to scare away her once abuser and be an actual big sister.

"But apparently she thought you were even more attractive which is disgusting. I mean before you looked like a muppet and now you look like a poser. Why would anyone want to fuck that? Gross." Frannie said, giving an exaggerated shudder.

Quinn sighed, "Why couldn't I have been blessed with a better sister? A nicer sister?"

"You love me." Frannie accused, "So, she said you were hanging out with a brown girl. She's talking about whats-her-name?"

"Santana's visiting her grandmother and she's one of my best friends."

"Like you have multiple." Frannie laughed, "Like you have any. I've never seen her around here. Does she not want to, like, ever come around or something?"

"I try to keep her away from you people."

"I bet that makes her feel amazing." Frannie shook her head, "Ten bucks she's not really gone. She just needed a good excuse to not hang around you. You're a bit needy."

"Thank you for that." Quinn stood up and went back inside, ignoring the whines from her older sister. Once inside she moved to the kitchen for some water, stopping in front of the sink, her mind began to wonder.

Was she too needy? She was sure that characteristic couldn't be very attractive to Santana. She always made fun of Rachel when the girl whined and cried over Finn. Could this trip really be more than just a visit? Did Santana need a break?

"You okay, Sweetie?" Judy asked as she walked into the kitchen.

Quinn blinked her eyes, regaining reality and realizing that she left the water running over her hand. She stopped the water and gave her mother a smile, "Of course. Just thirsty."

Judy walked to the fridge and pulled out a plastic water, "Here you go."

Quinn took the water and gave another smile before walking out of the room.

 **XXX**

Brittany's house was strange. It was very busy and maybe a tad too small and her cat was eyeing Quinn. Brittany assured that the cat was just being friendly but the look on his face said otherwise.

Quinn helped Brittany set up for her Fondue for Two, realizing slowly that she was going to be the guest for the evening, "I don't know, Brittany. I don't even know what I'd talk about."

"You won't have to do much. Just keep the convo going." Brittany sat down in front of the camera and patted a spot for Quinn.

Quinn hesitated but sat down, the theme music suddenly kicking off.

Brittany smiled, "Today our guest is super special, super smart, head cheerleader Quinn Fabray."

Quinn waved at the camera, her legs folded and her back straight.

"Quinn has been a good friend of mine forever and now she's basically a sister-in-law to me."

Quinn gave her a confused look.

"You know cause you and San are basically married," Brittany clarified, "And San and I are basically sisters. But not blood-related because that would be incense."

Quinn tilts her head, "Incense? Do you mean, maybe, incest?"

Brittany smiled bright, "See, everyone! I told you she was smart."

"But why would it be incest?"

Brittany gave her a look like she should have known this before, "Well, you're not supposed to make out with your sister."

Quinn struggled to not fully react in complete shock, "You... two have made out?"

"A couple of times." Brittany placed a finger under her chin, "Back in the day, Sanny use to give me her lady kisses and pretend that it was all for practice for future boyfriends. Guess she was a little off about that one."

Quinn had never heard that story before and felt a little angry that she was derived from such information.

Then suddenly Quinn's phone rang from off camera.

"That's probably, San. We are live and she said she'd watch tonight." Brittany smiled at Quinn, oblivious to the other girl's feelings.

Quinn stood up and went over to answer it, taking the phone out of the room for privacy, "Hi."

 _"I can totally explain."_

Quinn hung up the phone and looked to the ceiling. She let out a calming breath, happy to have finally got a call from Santana but not liking it being on these circumstances.

Her phone rang only once before she answered it, "Explain."

 _"Did you hang up on me?"_

"Yep. Explain."

Santana let out a sigh, _"I don't know what to say. Freshmen year I was pretty sure that I wasn't into girls and was sure that Brittany and I were just practicing for future boyfriends. And then you came around and I was drastically wrong."_

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

 _"I don't know. I had a feeling you wouldn't like it."_

"Am I supposed to?"

 _"I don't know. Do you?"_

Quinn hung up the phone and leaned against the hallway wall until she answered the phone again after two rings.

 _"It's so fucking rude when you do that. It literally puts me on edge, Fabray."_

"Then maybe you should have told me this before... Everything."

 _"You didn't ask."_

"I didn't ask." Quinn repeated softly as she laughed, "You're literally the only person that gets me this frustrated, Santana!"

 _"Are you seriously yelling at me about this."_

"I'm not yelling! My tone is slightly raised."

 _"What if I did tell you before. Would that change anything?"_

Quinn combed her fingers through her hair as she thought this over, "Yeah. It made me feel special to think I was the first girl..."

For a few moments, there was only silence and Quinn wasn't sure whether Santana hung up the phone or not before the girl muttered an, _"Sorry to disappoint."_

The was a female voice in the background of the call before Santana spoke again, _"I gotta go. I'll call you later, I guess."_

"We're just going to leave this unresolved?"

 _"I guess."_

"You guess?"

Santana let out a humorless laugh, _"There's nothing to resolve! Do you want me to write out a list of people I've kissed or fucked around with? I'll do that, but I can't do anything about what happened in the past. I gotta go!"_

Santana hung up the phone and Quinn gripped her own tightly in her hands. Deep down she had a feeling Brittany and Santana had been closer than just friends before but she really didn't want to believe it.

Santana just needed to come home. When she was close Quinn didn't feel so lost in her own insecurities and thoughts. She didn't feel like her sister.

 **XXX**

Quinn shook her leg as she dialed Santana's phone for the fifth time today. For the past couple of days they'd barely been talking, just one or two words here and a good morning and night text. Quinn couldn't take much more of it this morning, but Santana didn't answer.

She didn't answer texts or calls and it was already 5 pm and Quinn was starting to get worried.

Quinn typed out another text to the Latina before feeling eyes on her, remembering that she went out to for a late lunch with Mercedes and Kurt.

She gave them a smile, "Sorry, I wasn't listening. A little distracted."

"Okay, spill." Mercedes folded her arms, "You've been staring at that phone way too hard. What's going on?"

Quinn gave them a shrug, "Nothing. Santana and I had a little fight but it's not that bad."

"Was it over the whole thing on Fondue For Two?" Kurt asked, "Watched it the other night. Looks like some sort of love triangle between the unholy trinity."

"There's no love triangle." Quinn slumped in her chair, "Santana just decided not to tell me about her past escapades and I'm just wishing I can go back to a time where I didn't have to worry all the time about my girlfriend."

"You mean back to a time when you were worrying all the time about your boyfriend?" Mercedes gave her a look, "When was the last time you haven't been involved with someone, by the way?"

Quinn stared at her, "Are you trying to make a point?"

"I am. Get ready for it." Mercedes gave them both a large smile, "I'm sure that Santana doesn't like your past relationships or escapades. So why are you the only one who gets to be mad?"

"Who's side are you on?" Quinn folded her arms, "Maybe I shouldn't have yelled at her but that's all you're getting out of me."

Kurt gave Mercedes a high five, "Go on, girl! You've been dishing out advice all day!"

"It's a gift." Mercedes blew off her fingernails. She looked behind Quinn and cringed, "One more advice, don't look behind you."

Before Quinn could, a shrill voice called for her that undeniably belonged to Rachel Berry. Quinn groaned, "I'm never coming back to this mall."

Kurt laughed and Mercedes raised an eyebrow as Rachel dragged Finn over to their table.

"I'm almost offended that I wasn't invited to your little dinner date here," Rachel exclaimed to the three as Finn stood awkwardly with his hands in his pockets.

"We would have invited you, Rachel, but..." Kurt said with a sickly grin. Kurt, Rachel, and Mercedes had been having a sort of competition with each other in glee club and it's kind of put a weird rift between them. Sometimes Santana would join the competition and though the girl never played fair, it was a lot more fun to watch than this.

"No big deal. Finn and I were busy anyway. We had been scaling the mall for matching..."

Quinn's mind started to wander as Rachel talked. The blonde managed to keep a tight smile as the girl talked but her mind was on Santana. What if the girl was in trouble or something? She couldn't actually be avoiding her. Could she?

Quinn slowly stood up, making Rachel slow her talking to a stop.

"I need a drink." Quinn looked around the group, "Do you all want to join me?"

 **XXX**

Quinn didn't like Puck's house. It was dark and empty and she never saw anyone else living there and it freaked her out. But as she downed a shot, and then another shot in his kitchen she didn't mind it too much. Especially once she left the glee kids to their own devices in the living room.

Puck gave her a disapproving look, having followed her into the kitchen to monitor how much she was drinking, "You bring glee into my house and then drink my alcohol? Am I being punished?"

Quinn gave him a glare as she downed another drink and slammed it hard on the counter, "Santana's being a huge bitch and ignoring my calls."

"So you're the reason why I keep getting her voice mail." Puck picked up a glass for himself and began to pour, "She doesn't usually ignore my calls, 'specially if I say our code word in the DMs. What did you do to her?"

"Not anything worse than normal." She reached for the bottle but was stopped by Puck, "Noah. Don't you stop me from drinking or I'll do what I did to Santana to you."

"Is that a promise?" He joked with a smirk before letting her at the bottle, "What'd you do to her anyway?"

"Nothing. She's being dramatic." Quinn waved off that thought, "Why are you trying to get ahold of her?"

"No offense, beautiful, but I'd rather get help from my lesbro." Puck tipped a shot back before laughing, "What am I saying, you owe me one! I might as well get you to help me."

Quinn squinted at him, feeling the effects of being a lightweight swim over her, "What do I owe you from?"

"I helped you snag that hot piece of Latina ass that you got on your arm!"

"Do you see her around? I don't owe you jack, Jack." Quinn hiccuped and placed her hand over her mouth, "I probably shouldn't have drunk that much."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you!" Puck pulled the bottle away, "You have no choice. You gotta help me learn from your feminine charms so that I can get at Zizes after years of waiting."

"Lauren Zizes?" Quinn asked as Puck grabbed her wrist and lead her out of the kitchen.

Quinn knew she had been drinking way too much when she was suddenly at a party that wasn't at Puck's house. She looked around, so many people she didn't know. They all looked so roughty and Quinn was not wearing "party clothes."

Quinn patted down her outfit as Puck pointed in front of them, "That's her!"

Quinn looked up, unfazed by the loud laugh escaping Lauren Zizes mouth. The girl was beastly, Quinn couldn't see the appeal, "Go up to her and talk to her. But don't hit on her. Just talk like you care."

"What am I supposed to say if I don't hit on her?"

Quinn sighed, "Ask her how she's doing or something. I don't know, Noah, make it seem like you care!"

"You've said that twice but I still don't get-" He was interrupted as Quinn pushed him away towards the other girl. She watched him shuffle over to the girl, finding his shyness towards the situation to be somewhat endearing. Almost cute.

Quinn gagged at herself and pulled out her phone. She really needed to get ahold of her girlfriend as soon as possible.

 **XXX**

Santana watched as her cousin's played their lame video game, the sound of the game was way too loud and it was blazing warm in the house. Santana sat on the couch, trying to get her phone to come back to life while avoiding her responsibility of watching over the young boys. She was still a little pissed at them for stealing her phone from her and somehow dropping it into the pool outside.

She groaned and kicked at one of the boys, "Where does Tía keep the home phone?"

The boy pointed to the kitchen and Santana stood up with a huff. She walked past her eldest cousin who was rudely blocking her way to the phone before putting the receiver to her ear and dialing Quinn's number. She memorized it before leaving.

She listened to it as it rang and noticed that her older cousin was giving her a look, "What?"

The woman, Cecile, folded her arms and leaned against the counter, "Who are you calling? Your boyfriend?"

"I'm calling a friend. Leave me alone." Santana bit the inside of her cheek as the phone rang under her ear. It's been a day since she's spoken to Quinn and at first, it was because she wanted the girl to chill out, but now she was pushing it. She had this deep feeling that Quinn was probably fuming even more than before and Santana wasn't sure that her own judgment was as good as she once thought it was.

Especially since the girl wasn't answering.

Santana hung up the phone once she heard the blonde's voicemail and let out a long groan, "Fuck! Shit, I should have left a voice mail."

Santana's Tia let out a laugh, "Does your mom know you talk like that?"

Santana looked over at her, "Who do you think taught me how?"

"You've got a point." She looked Santana up and down before turning back to the dishes she had been drying, "So you and your 'friend' okay?"

"Yep."

"You know, if you need any guy advice I'm here to-"

"Why would I need guy advice?"

"Come on, I think I know that look." The girl looked back at Santana with a raised eyebrow, "Love problems?"

"Who's in love?" Santana's dad stepped into the kitchen and straight for the refrigerator.

"No one," Santana cleared up quickly.

"She was over here calling up some boy she's into." Her cousin teased.

Santana's father raised an eyebrow while Santana shook her head and clarified, "I was calling Quinn."

He let out a hum of understanding.

"Who's Quinn." Her cousin continued to joke, "A new beau?"

Santana's dad laughed, "Just one of her silly friends. They're two peas in a pod. Almost too close. Reminds me of Tino and his amigo back when they were like thirteen." He then began to call Santana's uncle to join them in the kitchen.

It took a moment but Tino shoveled himself into the room, followed by Santana's eldest cousin and a few of her uncles. She didn't know her father finally got along with this side of the family but she suspected that they all had been drinking tonight.

The men then started going into a detailed story about how her uncle used to have a close friend a year before his fourteenth birthday. Santana usually loved stories from her family, especially ones that she hadn't heard and with everyone in good moods.

But tonight felt a little different.

Santana didn't mind gay jokes, especially if they were funny. She'd said a few of them about her classmates, usually to get the focus off of herself or because they literally just fell into it.

She was never really into the tasteless "stereotype" jokes, especially the ones where the one who is telling the jokes seemed to actually believe what they're saying. She did like to comment on Kurt whenever he portrayed an ancient stereotype in a gesture or song, but that was more of an observation than a joke. There's nothing funny about it.

So as she stood in the kitchen and gave fake laughs at the jokes her family members made about the similarities between her Uncle and her relationships with friends, she wished that she was somewhere else. Like maybe Ohio, where she could be a closer version of herself.

Santana glanced over at her Uncle Tino, catching a slight discomfort in his face before he let out a belching laugh.

 **XXX**

Quinn sat comfortably against the side of a bed and with a bottle of whiskey next to her. The muffled sound of the party downstairs reminded her of a book she had read years ago when she never thought she would be at a thing like this. She imagined them to be crazy and fun and filled with interesting people but not enough to outshine her.

But tonight she's in a stranger's house in an upstairs room, getting to know a bottle of whiskey behind the bed. And Santana still wasn't answering.

Quinn bit her lip lightly, tasting the strong liquor on her lips as she looked at the bottle in her hands. It reminded her of her dad. It gave her so much pain before warming her chest, the liquid making her dizzy every time she took a swig. It was like a rollercoaster, letting her down when she tried to get back up...

Quinn squinted her eyes at the bottle, "No. That doesn't work."

She looked down at the pen and paper on her other side and crossed out a few words she had written down before taking another swig and placing the bottle before her, picking up the paper so that she could read to the object, "Dad... Father, you're bitter and old like whiskey. And I'm young and sour like a lemon. That sounds weird, I should take that out... I want you to know that I'm an artist. And I want to do art. I hate the law. And I don't want to go to Yale... Okay, maybe that's not true..."

The bedroom door popped open and Puck stomped in, "Yo, what the fuck are you doing in here? I've been looking for you!"

"Practicing." Quinn balled up her paper and tossed it at Puck, hitting him in the chest.

Puck rolled his eyes and closed the door behind him, "Whiskey? Sick!"

He sat down in front of her against the wall and took a large swig of the bottle. He wiped his face with the back of his hand and let out an ugly sound, "And when I say sick, I mean literally actually sick. This shit is nasty."

"You just don't have the taste buds." Quinn yanked it away from him, "You're a classless caveman, so I didn't expect much."

"Mean. But that's how I like my women."

"Gag." Quinn looked down back at another paper and began writing some stuff down, "Speaking of gag, are you and Zizes..."

Puck's jaw squared before he shrugged, "She's not that... cool, I guess."

"Could have told you that." Quinn joked. She looked over to Puck and noticed his somber look and tried a different approach, "She's missing out."

"Nah. Not really." He hit head against the wall behind him and looked up to the ceiling, "I'm just kind of sick of being rejected. I mean, I get chicks, but not the ones I really want. That sounds fucked up when I say it like that, cause the girls I get are great. But uh, they're not the first pick. The first pick is gay or not interested or hates me. Full ego bust."

Quinn looked around, not sure exactly what to say and wishing Santana was here to say something for her (even though it would probably be the wrong thing), "You're a good guy, Puck. So far at least."

"Thanks."

Quinn took a swig of the whiskey and passed it back to Puck, "Can we change topics?"

"Yeah." He took the bottle and looked at the paper in her hands, "What, uh, are you doing homework? At a party?"

"Practicing." Quinn handed him the paper, "Gonna tell my dad that I don't like him or his rules and that I'm dating a girl."

"Ah, you're writing your own cherry bomb." Puck smirked, shaking his head when Quinn didn't bite to his reference, "You don't need to write anything down. Just speak your feelings or whatever."

"You trying to give me advice about feelings?"

"I have feelings! You girls are such assholes!"

Quinn let out a small laugh before taking the paper back and looking down at it. She couldn't say any of this to her dad, there'd be chaos at her house. Why couldn't she just make it easier for herself? For her family?

"Do you think it would be easier for me to just date a guy and go to Yale?" Quinn asked without thinking.

A moment passed before he answered a straightforward, "Yeah. Probably. But what would that mean for San?"

Quinn shrugged, "Are we really worried that she won't find somebody else?"

"I'm worried that she likes you too much."

"I hope you're wrong."

"Why? Don't you like her too?"

"Yeah." Quinn sighed. Sometimes she liked Santana so much that her heart would hurt just thinking about her, and sometimes her eyes would roll back when she knew that the brunette was coming around, "It doesn't matter if I like her. After high school, it's probably over."

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"After high school, I'm going to Yale and we won't see each other and we'll grow apart and break up cause she wouldn't want to slow me down or some selfless reason cause that's just her. Then I'll meet some guy and get married way too early and Santana will probably marry Brittany."

"What? Nah, dude!"

"I'd just rather end it early before it gets to a college breakup." Quinn pulled her knees up to her chest, "Bet it hurts the longer we wait."

"You're killing my vibe." Puck drank more whiskey and shivered, "Hey wait, you can't marry some rich asshole from Yale. You're gayer than Santana."

Quinn flinched, "Why would you say that?"

"I mean, come on-"

"Santana is it. I won't like any other girl after her." Quinn shook her head, knowing that Santana was the only good crush she'd ever had. But after her, Quinn would make sure that she'd never do this again.

"She that bad?"

Quinn rolled her eyes, "Opposite. But I just want to be normal. And I can't be normal with a girlfriend."

"You're fucked up." Puck folded his arms, "Fuck you for saying that. And you're talking to the guy who bullied Kurt for years for being a fucking pansy."

Quinn snatched the bottle away from him, "Don't talk to me like that. I know it's messed up. It's killing me to think like this but I can't help it. I hear my dad's voice in my head reprimanding me every friccin' time Santana is done touching me. I'd marry her if I didn't feel guilty for thinking it so fuck you, too, asshole."

Puck put up his hands in surrender, "So now I'm getting mean Quinn."

"Yeah, cause I'm getting judgmental Noah."

"Okay, okay." Puck scratched at his Mohawk, "So if Santana wasn't around I'd have a shot?"

Quinn glared at him before shaking her head in disbelief, "I guess you're like a guy version of her. In a way."

"I'm thinking that's a yes!" Puck smiled, "Now let's get fucked up!"

Quinn felt like being alone tonight to just drink and wait by her phone, but she felt like Puck needed a pickup of some sort. So she gave him a smile.

 **XXX**

Santana watched as the sun slowly peaked up behind the clouds. Usually, she liked to stay up all night in Puerto Rico, it was so different from Ohio. The sun seemed different.

This time felt underwhelming though like she was missing something.

"Hey there," a voice belonging to her father made her turn around to watch him cross the lawn towards her, "You know how I feel when you stay up this late by yourself."

He sat next to her on the grass and gave her a smile. She smiled back.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about something," Pedro started to say, his tone serious, "I know your mom and I have been really busy lately and I want to apologize. Lo Siento, sweetie, it's just that... work can be a lot when you want to provide for your children."

Santana stayed silent while she listened, her eyes watching the sky change colors.

"We were both worried about you being alone for so long. I mean, you were starting to act out. Hanging with some people that your mom doesn't like. I mean, I like Brittany but that Puck guy... I'm not too sure." He let out a chuckle for himself, "But you've been doing good. And Quinn seems like a good influence. Smart girl, your mom has been telling me that she even got you on the glee club."

Santana physically tensed once Quinn's name was mentioned and looked down at the grass below her.

"I'm just bringing this up to say sorry. It's going to get better. Your mom will be getting Partner soon enough and I'm thinking about taking a break. And maybe Ale will come to visit more often. You won't have to worry about being alone anymore-"

"I'm gay," Santana muttered. She picked at the grass below and held her breath.

"What?"

"I'm gay." Santana looked over to him, tears brimming her eyes just from finally saying it.

Pedro's eyebrows went up, "Oh?"

"Yeah." Santana wiped at a tear and looked away, "You'd know that if you were ever actually home."

"That's not fair-"

"Mami knows. Ale knows."

"They both know?"

"Yep. And I'm going to tell Abuela while we're here."

They both sat silently, only noises of cars passed through from a distance.

"I don't know what to say," Pedro broke the silence, "Do you want me to sit with you?"

Santana looked over at him, brow furrowed.

"You know... When you tell your Abuela." Pedro communicated, "Do you want me to sit with you when you tell her?"

Santana closed her eyes to prevent herself from crying in relief, "I don't know."

"We'll decide later." Pedro put an arm around his daughter and pulled her into his side, "Now I know I may not seem like the smartest guy right now for not picking this up but, uh, are you and Quinn..."

"Yeah."

Pedro let out a laugh, "You have a Lopez eye, Mia."


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Santana arrived back in Lima, alone. Her dad stayed back to repair a few bridges that she was on the verge of burning after talking to her grandmother about her sexuality. For a woman that demanded her silence on the matter, she seemed to have no problem telling the rest of the family.

Santana felt embarrassed. Slightly stupid for thinking her external family was going to like anything she had to say on the matter. And most importantly, lonely.

She set down her luggage and listened for movement around the house. She was a week early and pretty sure that her mother was on a business trip of some sort. And who knew where her brother was. She was alone.

At least she thought she was alone.

She took a deep breath, almost immediately sucking in a burnt smell radiating within the house. She let out a cough, covered her nose with the back of her hand and followed the smell.

And to her confusion, there was Quinn, taking out a fully burnt tray from the oven and setting it on the counter. Quinn threw off her oven mittens and lightly kicked the oven. Then she looked down at the tray and let out a sad, "Dang."

Santana walked over to the oven, scaring Quinn and turning on the overhead fan, "You're burning my house down?"

Quinn smiled, "I was making cookies. Everyone likes the smell of cookies when they get home."

Santana gave her a look, "I'm not getting that smell right now, but thanks."

"Yeah. Okay, I may have taken a longer than expected nap but it's the thought that counts," Quinn grabbed for Santana's hand and lead the girl out of the kitchen and to the family room where she sat them next to each other on the couch. She tucked a leg under her before asking, "How was the trip?"

"Could have been better."

"You're home early."

"Yep," Santana rest her arm on the back of the couch to get a better look at Quinn, "Anything fun happen while I was gone?"

Quinn shook her head, "I went to a party but it was pretty boring without you."

Santana laid her head against her knuckles, "Are you still mad at me?"

Quinn shook her head.

"Maybe I'm still mad at you."

Quinn raised an eyebrow, "Well I'll apologize for maybe overreacting."

"Okay, go for it."

"Okay."

Santana waited a few beats before laughing, "I'll go first. I'm sorry for not telling you about everyone I've ever kissed but let me just say that there's been a few. I've had mono so many times it should be called-"

"Please don't finish that sentence."

"Okay, then your turn."

Quinn nodded, "Okay.

When nothing came after Santana let out another laugh, "Seriously, Quinn?"

Quinn point, "I just don't want to waste an apology on little stuff."

"That's so weird, Q."

"How about I show my apology in a different way?" Quinn tried before leaning closer to Santana to kiss her on the cheek.

Santana rolled her eyes as Quinn continued her descent down to her jaw and then her neck, "I guess this will do."

Quinn giggled against her before suddenly pulling back, "Oh, by the way, your backdoor should be locked when no ones home."

"Noted."

 **XXX**

Do you know what sucks? Having your birthday fall on the first day of school. This year it looked like Santana was being punished for being birthed in August and she was trying not to sulk.

She must have not have been doing a good job of hiding her disappointment when Quinn announced that the blonde was planning her a birthday party. The control freak had apparently been planning it for a while and had even coordinated when Santana's parents were going to be out of the house; the weekend before her birthday.

Santana tried to seem excited about it but it was obvious that she wasn't too keen. She was still a little sensitive about her grandmother basically disowning her and (though she never thought that she'd ever actually say this) maybe she was more in the mood for something small. Tons of alcohol could be involved but fewer people would have been the preferred thing.

However, Quinn had already planned the thing. And sadly she invited a lot of people. Santana couldn't fault her for that, she usually loved a good party especially if they were celebrating herself. So she sucked it up and constantly complimented Quinn's planning skills (both sarcastically and non-sarcastically).

But if she was being honest, she wasn't the only one acting a little off. Quinn was also a little off. She had been a bit snappy and in her head a lot since Santana had been back and, strangely enough, she was wearing her father's promise ring again. She hadn't put that thing officially on since it was given to her but now she wore it everywhere.

And Santana really didn't want to ask why.

Just the other day, they were sitting on the couch watching some reality show that Santana usually enjoyed. Quinn never seemed to be that interested in it but like always she laid her head on Santana's lap while they lounged on the couch, letting the brunette watch her shows.

A commercial came on, some sappy wedding commercial, and Santana was about the fast forward when she noticed Quinn's sudden fixation on the promise ring. She watched the blonde roll it around her finger for a few moments before a thought processed through her mind. What if Quinn was just in the mood for some reassurance? Like some sort of institutionalized permanence. Like marriage talk...

Just the thought of that gave Santana heart palpitations.

There was nothing wrong with marriage. Her parent's marriage, though far from perfect, was loving and something to look to as an inspiration of sorts. It just was maybe a little too early for that right now. God, Santana doesn't even know what college she wants to go to. Marriage can wait.

But she also knows that marriage is like second nature to Fabrays. Quinn's grandparents got married out of high school, her parents got married out of high school, and Frannie got engaged the day after she graduated high school. It's one of those family traditions that probably got brainwashed into Quinn's head and like look at her now. She sure isn't dating some rich, popular white guy who's going to propose to her the minute she steps off the graduation stage.

Santana swallowed her pride; even though she could barely stand the thought of her future right now she was pretty sure that she and Quinn had one together. And if a little wedding talk would make Quinn happy then she would be fine with buying into the heteronormative bullshit that comes with it.

"Where would you want your wedding to be?" Santana asked as the commercial headed towards its end.

It took a few seconds before Quinn responded, "Huh?"

"Like would you want it on a beach or in a church? As long as it's not in a barn. I can't do that."

Quinn sat up slightly to look at her, her eyebrows furrowed, "What?"

"Like you should probably tell me now so that I'm prepared in the future-" Santana barely got that out before Quinn pushed herself off of Santana and scooted to the far end of the couch.

It only took a quick look to see that she was freaking out, silently freaking the hell out. Santana was genuinely surprised by this reaction, not sure whether to jump over to another couch or pull Quinn back into her.

Santana put up her hands in surrender, "I was just kidding, Q."

"I know. It's just that..." Quinn looked away, closing her eyes tightly. Santana always wanted to be able to read Quinn easily and now she was able to see Quinn go over different things that she wanted to say, "I don't want to get married."

Oh... so she chose to lie. It wasn't like Santana sees the girl gush over bridal stuff all the time but she very much does, "Sure."

"I don't."

"You don't have to lie. I mean, I'm your girlfriend so..."

"I'm not... Haven't we talked about this?"

"I don't know, Quinn. I'm not proposing or anything. Just asking a question about the fake wedding that you've obviously been planning since you were ten."

Quinn shook her head, "I really don't want one. I... I was talking to Noah about this-"

"You were talking to who?" Santana almost choked. Why was she bringing him into this?

"Noah. We were talking about future plans and-"

"You're talking to Puck about the future and not me?"

Quinn sighed and began a divergent direction, "San, every time I bring up the future you get all angry."

"You mean when you bring up college? Cause yeah, I'm freaking out about it."

"So why bring up the future? We were relaxing and now..."

"Dude I asked you if you liked a beach or a church better, not if you were cool with me piggybacking you all the way to Yale so that I don't have to worry about my own educational insecurities."

Quinn raised a hand to her temple, "Oh my God."

"Why are you wearing your dad's promise ring?" Santana quipped. Now she was on a roll and obviously, something was up with Quinn. She might as well get to the bottom of it.

Quinn paused. Then she struggled, and for the first time in a while, she couldn't think of anything to say. So she moved the hand with the ring on it to rest under her thigh and let out an awkward laugh, "Why don't you watch the rest of your show, San?"

"Why aren't you answering the question?"

"What is your literal issue tonight?" Quinn was beginning to get frustrated and Santana knew that if she pushed just a little bit harder then the girl would give up and spill what was actually on her mind.

"You're the one with the issue, Quinn. It was a normal question and you freaked the hell out. So what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Santana seriously. Watch your show."

"No. Not until you tell me the truth. You love romance and marriage and all that sappy stuff."

"Well, I guess not tonight so stop."

"I mean I get it. With your parents being the way that they are-"

"No." Quinn put up a finger to stop her, "Don't do that."

Santana rightfully shut up, knowing this was as far as she needed to push before causing any real damage. Quinn had the look on her face that said that she was going to share what was truly on her mind and wasn't going to care how Santana was going to feel about it. They had done this before to each other, pushing out the truth and it was actually getting easier the more they got to know each other.

That's why when Quinn's eyes started to tear up Santana knew that she was going to tell her something she didn't want to hear.

Before any tears fell, Quinn gave a sad smile, "I have to head home."

Before Santana could say anything, Quinn pulled her in for a kiss. It was one of the famous Quinn kisses that made her almost forget what they were even talking about. Quinn pulled away to whisper sweet words against her lips that were almost so soft that Santana was sure that Quinn wasn't saying these words just for the brunette. Then she peeled herself away and basically ran out of the house.

Santana touched at her lip, acknowledging how absolutely weird Quinn was acting.

She continued to act weird, even up to the birthday party that she had planned for Santana.

The party itself was well planned, a lot of people showed up and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Except for Santana. She didn't know what was getting more on her nerves. Her grandmother's disapproval still on her mind? Or her girlfriend obviously hiding something from her? Or the fact that her parents aren't home two days before her birthday?! Like yeah, it's allowing them to have this party but seriously where were her parents?

Santana stood by the wall, arms folded as she watched Quinn and Puck laugh obnoxiously at something from across the room.

Usually, she would be fully focusing her energy into complaining to Quinn about how much she wasn't having fun but the blonde was busy talking Puck of all people.

Plus apparently it's rude to complain to the party planner, but it's her birthday. She can be bitchy if she wants to.

"You okay, Satan?" Kurt came over and looked over to what Santana was leering, "Should I leave you alone?"

"When did they become friends?" Santana was starting to get a funny feeling with those two but she wasn't sure what yet.

Kurt gave her a look, "You didn't want them to be friends?"

"I don't know..."

"Quinn thought you'd be happy with them finally getting along."

"She did?"

"Uh, Yeah."

"I need the truth, Porcelain," Santana turned to Kurt and lowered her voice, "When did this start? When I left they barely said a word to each other unless it involved me."

"That's a bit self-involved."

"And? Answer the question though."

Kurt sighed, "I guess after your fight thing over fondue for two. We all went to Puck's house to get wasted and they disappeared for hours."

"Hours?" Santana looked over to the pair again, both now commenting on Puck's beat down leather jacket that he, unfortunately, wore everywhere, "Should I be worried?"

"Are you?" Kurt gave her a look, "Not to risk a beat down but I have to say that you sound like an idiot right now."

Santana looked over to him.

"She loves you, not sure why but she does. She was driving herself crazy while you were gone. She was also driving _us_ crazy but let's not get into that," Kurt sipped at his drink delicately, "So cheer up. Stop thinking the worst is going to happen... cause it just might."

"Whatever." Santana waved him off, "Leave me."

Kurt rolled his eyes as he left.

Santana eyed back towards the pair, repeating a silent reassurance to herself to help her stomach relax.

Luckily the party ended up taking her attention for most of the night. However, Santana just couldn't stomach to drink tonight. She couldn't even get herself to drink to just get through the night.

Apparently, she wasn't very good at hiding he discomfort as Finn walked up to her as she watched Tina and Rachel try to out-sing each other.

"She did it to me too." He said to her.

Santana barely bothered to look at him, "Who invited you?"

"Quinn. She cheated on me, too."

Santana whipped her head to look at him, "What?"

"You know." He gave a smile, "With you."

Santana furrowed her brow, "No she didn't, dumbass. She broke up with you and then we hooked up. Fucking stupid."

She looked away and folded her arms, trying to get back into the Berry Cohen-Chang battle in front of her.

"Well, she's still cheating on you with Puck."

"Shut up."

"You're probably wondering why I'm thinking this-"

"Probably cause you're dumb as rocks."

He continued like he didn't even hear her, "It's not because Quinn's my ex and yes I'm still kind of peeved that you stole her away. It's also because her dad cheats. Her sister cheats. And... well, do you even see them in the room?"

Santana paused and turned to look around. When she couldn't find them she gave Finn a look, "I don't see them."

"Cheating. Mark my words. I have a knack for it."

"No, you don't." Santana began to walk off but not before pointing at his chest, "Mind your own fucking business."

He put up his hands in surrender as she stomped off.

 **XXX**

"Is Santana acting weird to you?" Quinn asked Puck as she grabbed a few drinks from the fridge. She should have never invited this many people, she knew good and well she wasn't about to clean all of this by herself. She could probably get some of the Glee kids to clean a bit before they left. Maybe with a little bit of blackmail and guilt tripping.

"Nah," Puck took one of the drinks from her and opened it, "By the way, what'd you get her for her birthday?"

Quinn went to replace the drink, "It's a secret."

"Hot."

"It's not like that." Quinn sighed as she closed the fridge door, "Are you sure she's not acting weird? She hasn't asked for one present. It's already 9."

"I'm sure she's fine. Wanna know what I got her?" Puck reached into his pocket and pulled out a metal contraption, "Check it."

"Brass knuckles?" Quinn questioned as she walked around him to the counter, "What is she supposed to do with that?"

"What do you usually do with brass knuckles?" Puck asked, a proud smile on his face, "She's gonna love it."

"Sure." Quinn set the drinks on the table and turned to him, "Honestly though, do you think she's not feeling the party? I didn't expect the Glee kids to come. I know she doesn't like all of them-"

"You did invite Rachel."

"On accident."

"Maybe she knows what happened between us."

"You're disgusting," Quinn let out a gag and picked up the drinks, "By the way could you not say that. Especially in front of Santana. She might have a reason to use those brass knuckles."

"Then it'll be a good gift." Puck followed behind her as she began to walk out of the kitchen.

Outside of the kitchen, in the family room, Santana found herself people watching from the couch. She was way too sober and in too much of a terrible mood to enjoy any of this. She did what she was supposed to, said her "Thanks" when people wished her a happy birthday but remained mostly neutral amongst the other party goers.

This birthday could have been better. Her family was nowhere to be found. When she even thought of her family she remembered that her grandmother wasn't talking to her. And when she remembered that it was because she was gay she'd look around for Quinn, whom nowhere to be seen.

And the lacrosse team keeps talking to her. Why would Quinn invite them?

"Hey, Santana." Rachel Berry of all people walked into her view. She looked more timid than usual, almost like she was hiding something. She probably was with the way she tiptoed her way over, "Happy birthday."

"What?"

"Happy birth-"

"No, like what as in what the fuck is wrong?"

"I-"

"I can see it on your face. Spit it out."

"I just..." Rachel gave a deep sigh before kneeling down to lower her voice, "I overheard Puck and Quinn in the kitchen. I wasn't eavesdropping or anything, I was about to go in but heard them talking. And I believe something is going on with them. They were literally talking about not telling you something."

"They're probably just planning something for my birthday party that you are currently attending."

"No. It wasn't that kind of thing..."

Santana blinked in silence, wondering why people kept bringing up this whole 'maybe Quinn and Puck are fooling around behind your back' thing. Sure it was just Finn and Rachel and neither of them was reliable sources, however, this really made her uncomfortable.

Santana could have sworn Quinn was happy, at least some of the time they were together in high school. She seemed happy when they were alone together and happy with their friends at school. She seemed happy when talking to Santana's parents within the rare time they'd actually be home and she seemed happy when she finally got Santana and Brittany to join glee club with her.

But there were little things, like moments where Quinn seemed far from happy.

Santana knew that it was her family life to blame. Quinn's parents fought constantly almost every night and her older sister Frannie was busy finishing up college to care. Quinn's father was the worst of it, the man was horrid any time of the day and though her mom was constantly drinking, it was better luck to find her in the Fabray house than him.

That's what Santana always blamed it on when Quinn would suddenly snap at her about something small or act overly jealous of her hanging out with someone like Puck. Maybe there was some sort of trust issue in the Fabray house, Santana didn't know but she tried not to blame it on Quinn.

It was hard but Santana was far from perfect either. She had a bad temper and was incredibly impatient. Especially on days where coach wouldn't have them eat, which started adding to the other days when she couldn't be bothered to break the diet like the other girls. When she didn't like people she would tell them to their faces and she had a hard time filtering her thoughts out loud without hurting someone's feelings in the process.

So it was hard for Santana to be calm when Quinn came at her like she did something wrong and it was hard for her to keep her patience when Quinn became incredibly sad for no reason other than it started raining.

It wasn't too hard though when Quinn would give her a look that almost made her heart beat out of her chest or kisses that seared her lips or whispered to her sweet nothings before she went to sleep in her arms. It wasn't too hard to keep it together for her when Santana remembered why they were together in the first place. Because she loved her.

With all that in mind, could Santana honestly question Quinn's integrity? Cheating? Was that possible for the blonde?

She felt the couch sink next to her and gave a smile when it was Quinn residing next to her, "Hey."

"Hey," Quinn said back with a warm smile. Santana couldn't tell if she was hiding anything, especially if she was hiding something with Puck. But then again, Fabrays were good at hiding this type of thing.

"We were just talking about you." Rachel said over the music, grabbing Quinn's attention, "You and Puck."

"Well," Quinn gave her a weird look, "If you're looking for Noah, he's getting Santana's cake. You can go ahead and look for him cause I need to talk to Santana in private if that's okay with you."

Rachel sighed and stood up, "Okay. Well, Santana happy birthday again."

Santana waved the girl off as she walked away.

"Please tell me you want your present now?" Quinn asked, leaning into Santana's side.

"Sure."

"You don't sound excited." Quinn pouted before taking her hand, "Step one of your birthday gifts, we're ditching your own party."

It took a moment before a large smile moved its way onto Santana's face. Cheating or not, Quinn sure knew her girlfriend, "But that would be so rude, Q!"

"That's the point isn't it?" Quinn leaned closer to Santana and wrapped a stranded of the Latina's hair around her index finger, "First we are going to club on 45th with some fake IDs that I bought. There's a $1,000 golden champagne bottle that they have on display that no one pays attention to and I'm wondering if we can pull off a five finger discount."

Santana gasped, "We're going to break the law? Twice?"

"Yep. And then I have two surprises wrapped for you upstairs." Quinn gave a wicked smile, "One that you've been asking for months, and one that's not so safe for work."

Santana couldn't even try to hide the smile on her face, "Please, lead the way."

Quinn gave her a wink before leading her off the couch and walking them both casually out of the house.

 **XXX**

Santana laid next to a sedated Quinn, the dark wrapped around them both as sleep crept its way into the room. The party was almost over by the time they came back, most of it was getting cleaned by the glee kids (not sure how Quinn managed to get them to do that). They were successful in their heist, bringing home the golden bottle and sharing its contents between them. By the time they had finished enjoying one of Santana's gifts, the sun was beginning to peak into the room.

Santana stared at Quinn's back, the girl was breathing deep but she couldn't fully be asleep yet, "Hey, Q."

She'd whispered so quietly that she was hoping Quinn didn't even hear her and was fast asleep. But Quinn stirred, "Hmm?"

Santana reached a hand onto Quinn's bare back, letting her fingers slide around her curves, "When did you and Puck become friendly?"

Quinn shrugged.

"Did you guys," Santana paused. She couldn't just ask her like this. Especially after the nice day that Quinn planned, "Do you think he's good looking?"

It took a long time before Quinn answered, Santana assumed that she had fallen asleep but then she answered with a mutter, "He's tall."

Santana rolled her eyes, mostly at herself. She shouldn't let these types of rumors get to her. Quinn was all about her. She had to be.


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Hi Y'all! I wanted to just quickly say hi. It's been a while since I've updated this story but someone commented a while ago and reminded me to at least put out some of these chapters that I already have typed up and ready to go. I still want to finish this up and I have a clear idea (and it's going to be happy) but it might take a while. Thanks for the patience and to all the new readers, Hey how are you?**

 **Please enjoy and please forgive me for any mistakes.**

Everyone was excited for senior year; Quinn was planning on becoming class president, prom queen (second times the charm), and Yale accepted. Brittany had been already accepted into MIT and would be leaving a semester earlier than everyone else. Puck at first didn't seem to know what he was doing after graduation, but he'd been mentioning the marines an awful lot so boot camp would probably be something he was looking at. Even Rachel Berry was excited for her star role in the glee club this year and her upcoming audition to NYADA.

Everyone was excited for senior year and afterward. Except for Santana who was at another college fair in her first week of senior year staring at a booth for a community college that she'd never heard of.

She sighed, grabbed a brochure and walked out of the auditorium towards the cafeteria. She slunk into a chair at the table with Quinn, Brittany, Puck, and Tina. Santana sat next to Quinn and watched the blonde interact with her guy best friend. They'd been getting along a lot better recently.

"That's a good school." Tina pointed to Santana's brochure, "They have a great nursing program."

"You think I want to be a nurse?" Santana snapped loud.

"Hey!" Quinn poked Santana's side, "Don't yell at Tina, she's here to make me feel better."

"About what?"

"About the fact that she's going to Brown. Out of all the universities. Very disappointing." Quinn gave a fake pout.

"She's rubbing it in that she thinks Yale is a better school than Brown." Tina clarified.

"I don't think. I know."

Santana sighed, "And why are you just sitting here letting her do this?"

"We got paired up for glee and we need to practice." Tina gave Quinn a look.

Quinn smiled, "How many times can we practice Demi Lovato before you realize you can't sing it?"

"Okay," Tina grumbled as she stood up, "That's my cue."

She walked off and Quinn gave a smile to Brittany, being that she had cranked up the mean in for the taller blonde ever since Tina and Artie began dating.

Brittany, of course, smiled back before catching an idea and turning to Santana, "Oh, I forgot to tell you that I signed you up for a full paid scholarship at some college for cheerleading. Sounds fun, right?"

A beat passed before Santana asked, "You did what?"

"Exactly!" Brittany excitedly slapped down a few papers in front of Santana.

"University of Louisville?" Quinn read aloud.

"Yep. Coach said that they have a cheerleading scholarship and I thought-"

"I don't want to cheer in college." Santana pushed the papers away, "I've been cheering for over four years now. I think I've had enough."

"Oh," Brittany said a bit deflated.

"Well, What do you want to do?" Puck asked, "Cause no pressure but I'm planning on passing history this year. So I can't be a super senior with you."

Santana folded her arms, "Look, I don't know but I don't want to do that. I just need some time to think about it."

"You're running out of it." Puck pointed to his imaginary watch on his wrist, "Not to sound like our school counselor that I may have seen earlier this week about this same thing, but we need to figure this out."

"I know." Santana picked at the brochure she had brought in before, "I just wish there was a job where I could stay home."

Brittany snapped her fingers, "Like a stay at home mom."

"Sure..."

"Maybe you and Quinn can just get married and then you get to stay home all day while she works!" Brittany clapped her hands like she was congratulating herself for the idea.

Both Santana and Quinn let out an awkward laugh before looking at each other, wondering what the other found so funny about that thought.

"Santana would be too bored to stay at home all day anyway," Quinn said first.

"Yeah plus Quinn's probably not even thinking that far. At least let her get to Yale first, right Q?" Santana gave a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Sure." Quinn leaned in to give Santana a quick peck, "You'll figure this out."

Then Quinn looked to the rest of the table, "I've got to going. I need to do some research on the other students running for my class president spot. Not to say I won't win without it but..."

And then she was off.

"Looks like you scared of Quinn with married talk." Puck chuckled, tossing a tater tot at Santana.

She smacked it away, "You might not see it right now but Q usually loves wedding talk. She's a romantic."

"Nah, dude."

"What do you even know?"

"I know a lot I'll have you know." Puck leaned closer into the middle of the table, "Yah girl has secrets."

"What kind of secrets?" Santana leaves in as well.

Puck gave a funny look before shrugging, "Secret secrets."

Santana squinted her eyes at the boy, "When the hell did she start sharing secrets with you?"

"Since she needed my help to get with you in the first place," Puck gave a sigh as he began to stand up, "You both need to hash stuff out cause I'm sick of listening to it. Why do I get girlfriend drama when I don't have one?"

He shook his head at himself as he walked off.

Santana scoffed and looked at Brittany for support. Unfortunately, it looked like the other girl was barely listening, her eyes focused on Artie and Tina at another table.

Santana sighed and scooted back into her seat.

 **XXX**

Quinn greeted a freshman as she walked past, giving the girl a sweet smile and a flyer with her name on it. The girl was initially terrified before Quinn charmed a giggle out of her. She was a guaranteed vote as she skipped off.

Quinn gave an exasperated sigh once the girl was out of ear range. She looked over to Mercedes who was waving at a football player walking away from her. The diva was nice enough to help Quinn with her campaign and had the personality to keep people talking to her when they passed by.

Quinn was originally going to ask Santana but she didn't want to scare off potential votes with their bickering. They'd been arguing a lot and Quinn was pretty sure it was her fault.

There was just so much on her mind recently. Her father had been home more often, which meant more time raging within the house, which meant more time terrorizing the family. And as he terrorized, Judy kept reminding Quinn of the 'Yale plan.'

But Quinn didn't want to do the 'Yale plan.' She wanted to go to Yale of course, but the whole breaking up with Santana seemed unreasonable. It bothered her. It kept her up for hours at night as she tried to think of ways to keep Santana in her life without her father freaking out too much about it. It made her irritable and snap at people for no reason. It made her snap at Santana often.

Before school officially started, actually right before Santana's birthday party, Quinn made an action plan of sorts. She would have her cake and eat it too.

Every teenager had some sort of a double life, right?

On one hand, she'll be a perfect Fabray daughter. She'll wear her dad's promise ring, be kind and courteous at home, she'll continue the good grades, and he'll she even become class president just so that he could brag about it church. Her mother will think that she's still on the plan, her father will think that she'd adjusted well to this Ohio life and had finally become the daughter that he wanted.

On the other hand, there was no way that she was breaking up with Santana. A chill ran up her back just thinking about it.

Speaking of Santana, Quinn had barely seen her all day. She picked up her phone and typed a quick message for the girl to come over later to study or something.

"Oh goodness, here it goes," Mercedes said next to her side, directing towards someone walking over.

Quinn looked up to see Lauren Zizes stomp her way over. She was the last candidate that wasn't backing out of the campaign and the girl was extremely relatable. People liked her for some reason, which made her a tough competitor.

"Zizes." Quinn greeted with a tight smile and folded arms.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Discount Barbie." Zizes towered in front of her.

Quinn let out a laugh, "That wasn't very creative. You should work on that."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot you're dating Satan. I'm sure that she lets you have it all the time. Must hurt."

Quinn rolled her eyes. People seemed to think to bring up Santana's mean streak would hit a nerve but honestly, she didn't mind it so much. Sometimes she actually liked it.

From the information she collected on Zizes, which there wasn't much, she knew that the girl was probably the most insignificant enemy that she'd ever faced. The girl had nothing special on her, other than Puck had a thing for her.

His crush was just enough for people to remember her name but she didn't have anyone else going for her. No other guy would touch her. So Quinn knew that her next statement would make the girl uncomfortable, "Well, enough of my sex life. Let's just keep it on the campaign."

She gave a wink and Zizes stepped back before growling.

"Look." She stepped up closer, making Mercedes start stepping up as well. Quinn put her hand on Mercedes' shoulder, not sure how the girl would protect her but appreciating her intentions. She turned back to Zizes as the bigger girl continued, "I may have lost Puck to you but I won't lose this election."

Quinn furrowed her brows. She lost Puck? To who?

"What are you talking about?" Quinn asked.

"I don't know how you did it but you and your girlfriend have your claws so deep into him that you're all he talks about it. But don't worry," Lauren pushed her finger into Quinn's chest, making the blonde take a step back, "I won't be losing this one. Everyone will know who you really are."

Well, this was a weird conversation. Quinn had no clue what Lauren was talking about. She and Puck were just friends and she was extremely sure that was the case with him and Santana. Maybe they all spend too much time together, which would probably make him talk about them a lot but... the girl was obviously exaggerating.

Quinn pushed the girl's hand away, trying not to rub the now sore spot on her sternum, "Looks like you're going to have brace yourself for disappointment."

"Are you listening to me? I'm going. To. Expose. You. To the entire. School."

Quinn rolled her eyes. The girl was bluffing. What was she going to say? That Quinn's mean? Yeah okay, everyone knows that she can be a bit cruel. Expose her tragic past? Okay, yeah that would suck and she would have to pretend that it didn't happen afterward, but pity would help her win anyway.

"Whatever." Quinn said pointedly. Quinn slid one of her flyers from out of her hand and pushed it towards Lauren, "Don't forget to vote, Zizes."

Lauren huffed and walked away.

Quinn watched the girl walk away and smiled. She was so going to win this.

"You stole Puck away from that girl?" Mercedes questioned, "I thought you were with Santana."

"I didn't steal anyone away and yes, I'm still with Santana," Quinn placed the flyer back in the stack in her arms, "She's obviously just insecure that Puckerman would rather hang out with me than her grumpy self."

"Mhm." Mercedes turned away to pick up her backpack from the floor.

Quinn raised an eyebrow, that was not an 'Mhm-I-agree-with-you-girl.' She followed Mercedes as she began to head to class, "You don't believe me?"

"It's really none of my business."

"What's none of your business?"

Mercedes gave her a look before pulling her to the side of the hallway, "I've been hearing some stuff."

"Stuff?"

"About you and Puck."

"From who?"

"Rachel."

"Oh." Quinn let out a laugh of relief.

"Stuff that she's already relayed to Santana."

"Oh." Quinn swallowed hard. She suddenly felt like she was in major trouble and she wasn't even sure what for yet, "What kind of stuff?"

Mercedes sighed, "Rachel - and yes I don't usually take her word for stuff- she said that you two were fooling behind Santana's back."

Quinn folded her arms and let out a bitter laugh, "What?"

"Quinn."

"What?"

"Don't lie."

Quinn struggled with her words, "I didn't even say anything."

"Quinn." Mercedes gave her a serious look, "Did something happen between you two? While she was out of town?"

"No."

"Shame the devil, girl."

"No. I mean almost. But nothing happened." Quinn rolled her eyes at herself. She was hoping never to tell this story but here it goes, "Noah and I were drinking. A lot. And I thought about it. Like maybe it would be easier if I just liked him instead. And I was going to go for it. But then I thought about dropping San and I puked. Right before we kissed. Right on him. And then I cried. And that was the end of that thought."

Mercedes gave her a pitiful look before laughing, "That's so embarrassing, Quinn, I don't know what to say."

"I know." Quinn tried to laugh with her, "You don't think that Santana believes Rachel, right? Cause I would never actually..."

"If she hasn't screamed at you about it then it must be good news." Mercedes shrugged.

"Honestly, Cedes, I would never cheat on her. I don't think I've cared enough when I was in other relationships. This one... feels different."

Mercedes gave a smile and pulled her in for a tight hug, "I believe you, honey," she pulled herself away, "Let's get to Spanish class?"

Quinn nodded as Mercedes pulled her to their next class.


	24. Chapter 24

Santana didn't necessarily not want to go to the movies with Puck.

She usually liked spending time with him and it was usually a good time. She just couldn't stand looking at him recently. Just the thought of 'did he sleep with Quinn?' kept creeping into the back of her mind every time they locked eyes. And Puck had the nerve not to be able to read her mind, so the jerkoff kept making jokes and innuendos mostly at the expense of her and Quinn's relationship.

"What's the ball and chain up to today?" He asked with popcorn hanging out the side of his mouth as they strolled past the concession stand.

Santana sighed, she was so close to bringing Brittany with her. The taller girl loved a good interrogation, not that she was as good as Santana herself. But Santana needed free range to attack if Puck admitted to something and Brittany was always holding a girl back in mid-fight.

"She's busy," Santana mumbled. Instead of heading straight for the theatre on their ticket, she beelined them towards the small and empty arcade area.

Puck reached into his pocket, "Do you wanna play the zombie one? I have some change."

"Sure." Santana walked over to the game in question and watched Puck put down his large popcorn and count quarters. She tried to see if he was acting any different. After she and Quinn had gotten together, she was sure that it radiated off her. She was literally buzzing with energy and it was noticeable.

But Puck looked normal. He kind of slacked more than usual, but normal. Which made Santana feel even angrier. What if he hooked up with Quinn and it didn't even mean anything to him? What an asshole!

"You alright there?" He gave her a funny look as he unholstered the fake blue gun for the game.

"Yeah, can I ask you something?" She unholstered her own fake maroon gun and gave him a sweet smile, "Is Quinn hiding something from me?"

Puck lifted his eyebrows. He looked caught like actually caught before shrugging a shoulder and pressing start on the game.

"You're not going to tell me?" Santana waited for a while but he really wasn't. He just started playing the game.

After a few moments of being surprised by his avoidance, Santana put down the fake gun and stepped hard to the left, right onto Puck's foot.

He yelped and jumped backyards, grabbing for his foot while jumping away from her on the other one, "Yo what the fuck?!"

"Tell me the truth, Puckerman!" Santana threatened.

He set down his foot and gave her a dirty look before furrowing his brows. A full array of emotions flashed through his face and Santana watched the guy as he thought about what to say.

"Should I be scared?" Santana asked, her confidence from before completely shot as she watched her best friend try to think of a lie.

"No... I mean, what do you think she could be hiding?" Puck walked over back to his bucket of popcorn and popped a few pieces into his mouth, "I can't tell you nothin.' But like maybe you can guess."

"She cheated on me." Santana blurted.

Puck squinted his eyes, "Is that what you think is happening?"

Santana looked away, "I don't know, dude."

"Would you like," he shifted awkwardly, "Would you break up with her if she did? Cheat or whatever?"

Santana looked back at him, "Why?"

"Well, I mean, I don't know anything, right?" He sighed and scratched the back of his head, "But let's say that something happened. You'd rather break up with her than the other way around. It hurt less, right?"

"What do you..." Santana tilted her head.

"It would hurt less if you'd break up with her right? Instead of her breaking up with you for like someone else? Or like for her parents or whatever?"

Santana took a moment, "What are you saying?"

Puck gave a frustrated sigh, "I'm not telling you anything cause it's not my business and Quinn would kill me if I told you-"

"Told you what, Puck? Seriously just tell me. I can handle it."

"No, you can't, dude. You like her too much and she's just gonna..." Puck put more popcorn into his mouth, "Look just... whatever you think is wrong, it is. Break up before she breaks up with you."

"She's going to break up with me?" Santana folded her arms tight against her, "Why? What's happening?"

"Nah man. I can't tell you. Just break up with her before she does it. It'll hurt less I think." He began to walk away and Santana tried to catch up with him.

"Why? What's going on?" Santana grabbed for him to stop. She hated that she sounded desperate but this was really freaking her out, "Did something happen? With you and Quinn?"

Puck looked at her, a little hurt in his eyes before he rolled them, "Is that what you think?"

"Yeah."

Puck shrugged her hand away, "Whatever, dude. I said my peace about everything. I hope you hear me out. We should just go catch the movie."

Santana stopped him again, "No. I don't... I don't think I want to see a movie with you anymore."

"Sure, Yeah, Okay." He gave a sad smile before pointing to the doors with his thumb, "I guess it's good that we both drove here. I'll just see you later."

He walked off quickly before Santana could respond.

 **XXX**

"How's that one sound?" Quinn asked her girlfriend. They were both resting on Santana's bed practicing Quinn's campaign speech. Tomorrow was the election and if she got this then this would be a big step towards her plans, "Are you paying attention?"

Santana laid her head on one hand and sighed, "Sorry."

Quinn moved her papers to her side and sat up, "You've been acting so weird lately."

"Have I?"

Quinn gave her a look, "Just tell me what's wrong. Rip it off like a bandaid. Quicker the better."

Santana let out a hum, "It's nothing."

"Santana."

"It's nothing."

" _Santana._ "

"Puck told me-" Santana cringed mid-sentence the minute she began to speak.

"What did he tell you?" Quinn asked. She watched as Santana moved off of the bed and to the desk chair. She had a strange solum look on her face that Quinn had only seen once before, "Come on, San. What's the deal? You're freaking me out."

"Why are you breaking up with me?" Santana got defensive quickly, legs folded and eyes cold.

Quinn rolled her eyes, trying to think of something to say to deescalate whatever Santana was getting at, "I'm not going to break up with you. Why would you even think that-"

"Puck told me that you were."

Quinn let out a laugh before realizing what Santana was talking about. The thing she and Puck talked about during the party. Her parent's plan for her to break free of everything so that she could focus fully on Yale and her future and her family. The whole breaking up with Santana thing before college, "I told him that in confidence."

Quinn closed her eyes in pain. She hadn't meant to say that out loud.

"So it's true." Santana stood up and placed her hands on the bed to lean towards Quinn, "What did you do?"

Quinn opened her eyes, "What did _I_ do?"

"What did you do to that makes you need to break up with me?"

"I don't even understand the question." Quinn moved forward to touch Santana's hand, "Honestly, I'm not breaking up with you. This is all a misunderstanding."

"Why would Puck tell me to break up with you first then, Quinn?" Santana moved her hand away.

"I don't know, Santana, maybe..." Quinn clenched her hand into a fist. The next time she saw Puck she was going to shove her fist into his eye, "I don't know... look... I-"

"Spit it the fuck out!"

"Okay," Quinn put up her hands, she really wished that she could have prepared herself for this talk but that's what she got for confiding in people, "My mom wants me to break up with you before college. Cause you're not apart of the plan, San. And if my dad finds out... I don't even know what would happen. And I'm scared to find out but I wasn't going to break up with you. I just can't get myself to. I don't want to."

Just like every time she blurts out the truth from her heart, Quinn felt extremely nauseous and like she wanted to run off immediately afterward. But Santana seemed to be deflating from her words so maybe it was worth it.

Santana put her hand over her heart and sighed in relief, "So you didn't cheat."

"No, I didn't..." Quinn flinched, "You thought I cheated?"

Santana shrugged a shoulder, "I had heard a few things but obviously they were wrong-"

"And you believed them?" Quinn placed her own hand over heart but for a different reason, "You believed them didn't you?"

Santana went to sit on the bed and rolled her eyes, "You can't blame me, Quinn. You looked suspicious."

Quinn stared at her, wondering why her girlfriend couldn't see how offended she was becoming, "Suspicious how? What are you talking about?"

"Like," Santana took a few moments to collect her thoughts, "You and Puck are closer and everyone's noticed it. You guys hang out alone a lot and it weirded me out and everyone else. But like it's not true, I get that. It's all good."

"I became friends with your best friend and you got weirded out?"

"Yeah."

"I became friends with Noah and you got weirded out so you thought I cheated on you with him?" Quinn restated, this time with a snap in her tone and a slight growl as she let Puck's first name slip through her teeth.

Santana began to pick up on her feelings, "Yeah... But I was wrong. Obviously, you wouldn't."

"Why would you think that? Explain." Quinn snapped again.

"Quinn..."

"Don't be nice now, Santana. When you want to find something out from me you pull out the bitch card so keep it up. Keep being who you are and tell me why you think I would cheat on you with Noah?"

Santana sighed, "Are you serious right now?"

"No, Santana, I'm joking." Quinn quipped, "You obviously heard that we hung out while you were gone for the summer. What do you think happened? What do you think I could have possibly done?"

Santana gave her a look, "Quinn. It's over and done. Stop freaking out about this."

"You can't just start and stop an argument when you want. I want to know what you think I did."

"It doesn't matter."

"Doesn't it? You came in here thinking I've cheated on you and-"

"Why are you so upset?" Finally, Santana was back at being angry, though it just seemed more frustrated than anything, "Your whole family is full of cheaters. You've grown up thinking it's fine. But it was just a bad rumor. Let's move on!"

"What?" Quinn let out a surprised laughed. She got up and began to pack her things, "So glad you took this opportunity to share how you feel about my family."

"Quinn." Santana sighed and stood up, "Okay, maybe that was a bit out of line. But you can't tell me that it's not true."

"I'm not anything like my family. I've never been!" Quinn looked at Santana, if she was like her family then this would be a great moment for her to break off things and start living the Fabray life. Santana gave her an out without even realizing it.

But Quinn wasn't like her family at all. And Santana looked too pretty to break up with today. So Quinn grabbed her bag and went for the door.

"I should have asked you first about the rumor. I was just worried," Santana followed behind her as she descended the stairs, "What would you have done if you heard that about me?"

Quinn got to the door but turned to Santana with another thing on her mind, "How many people have you talked to about this? Does everyone think I'm sleeping with Noah?"

Santana shook her head, "No. They think you've slept with him once. But look now we know the truth-"

"You're a real girlfriend of the year, Santana. Congrats." Quinn turned back to the door and opened it.

"Wait, wait." Santana grabbed her wrist as softly as she could, "You're not... breaking up with me over this right?"

"What? No! I don't know." Quinn snatched her hand back, "You obviously need time to think or something."

"Okay..."

"Okay. Bye." Quinn walked out of the house and slammed the door behind her.

Santana stood still for a few moments, feeling a little confused but mostly stupid for listening to everyone about Quinn. Then she heard her brother laughing behind her.

"She sounds mad." Ale was leaning against a wall, eating a bowl of cereal.

 **XXX**

Quinn laid on her bed, staring at the ceiling and trying to make her mind slow down for a second. She kept reeling the argument she and Santana had over and over in her head.

Had she flipped the argument back on Santana on purpose? She had known about the rumor for a while and was just waiting for Santana to bring it up. She had many responses prepared but this wasn't one of them.

She hated rumors, they reminded her of when she was younger and how so many people of their community blamed her for the entire Jenny thing.

Quinn would never forget the rumor that was spread, that Quinn had to be adopted into the Fabray family. She looked different and acted so strange. No wonder she influenced Jenny in such a way. All the young girls should stay away from her. Russell should send her to Tennessee with the rest of his worst half.

So when people talked about her nowadays, it made her feel anxious and her breathing would stiffen and she always needed to get to the bottom of it or eradicate it as fast as she could.

This time around was different though. She hated the idea of people talking behind her back but she didn't think Santana would ever believe them. And Santana was the only opinion she cared about.

Maybe that's why she got mad at the brunette so quickly.

Quinn sat up and scooted off her bed, she was about to do something that she absolutely dreaded doing but she had to. Deep down she wished that it was simple anger at Santana for believing the rumor, but in all honesty, it was a sort of deflection on the topic at hand. But she needed to understand how bad of a deflection it was, and how bad she would need to apologize once she tells the truth.

So she shoved her way into Frannie's room.

The older blonde was looking at a bridal magazine, wiping at a tear with a tissue. She looked up at Quinn, a quizzical look on her face, "Um… Get out."

Quinn closed the door behind her and walked closer into the room, folding her arms and looking everywhere but at her sister, "Are you crying?"

"No." Frannie hid the tissue behind her, "Get out!"

Quinn shifted on her toes and looked down to the carpet, "I have this issue. And I need... You know about these things..."

It took Frannie a moment before she sat up straight on her bed, "You need advice!"

Quinn shrugged a shoulder.

"Well, please sit my naive, less attractive sibling," Frannie pointed to the small couch that faced her bed as the tears all but disappeared from her face. Quinn took her time to the couch and sat on the edge of the cushion.

Frannie smiled, "What's your problem, I mean more than your normal problems, that you need my counseling with?"

Quinn sucked in some air and looked to the side. How should she put this without outing herself competently?

"I'm seeing someone."

Frannie's eyes went wide, "A boy?"

Quinn jumped, "What?"

Frannie laughed, "Just making sure. Go on."

The older sister folded her legs and placed her chin on her fist.

"I, um..." Quinn went over the story in her head a few times before saying, "We have been dating for a while now. Longer than we should have. I like them a lot."

"Do mom and dad know?"

"Dad doesn't know."

"Good. Continue."

"They went away for the summer and I hung out with their best friend a little bit-"

"And you slept with him."

"No! No." Quinn folded her arms against her, "But is kissing cheating?"

"No, I don't think so."

"If you don't think so, then it must be." Quinn looked down in shame, "It was just... we were drinking and talking about dad and his expectations. And this guy is just-"

"It's never greener on the other side."

"I know. It wasn't like that. He's way worse than my gir... boyfriend. The person I am seeing is sweet and funny and they are really worried about their future right now but even if they apply for some random college and go undeclared they'll still end up on top cause they're that type of person. And like, when I'm around them I feel like free, you know what I mean?"

Frannie looked down at her bridal magazines before shrugging, "Nope. So what, you made out with this best friend cause he is..."

"Because he has no plans and is kind of dumb and he's so happy. I want to be like that. No cares other than right here, right now."

"Ah." Frannie nodded her head, "So you were just trying to suck his life energy from him."

Quinn furrowed her brows, "No..."

"But you want to be like him. So this is the only way you can be close to being like him. Right? By sucking face, aka trying to get some of that carefreeness to rub off on you, aka trying to suck the life force out of him."

"Um," Quinn shifted uncomfortably, "Anyways, we kissed for a second and then I got sick. Like everywhere. He was grossed out and I basically passed out on the bed."

"And that's all that happened?"

"Yeah," Quinn couldn't remember anything else after the puking, "So, did I cheat?"

Frannie shrugged, "I don't know. Why are you asking me and not the beau?"

"Because you're," Quinn paused, "cheating."

Frannie looked back down at the magazines, her grip tightening on them, ripping the cover, "Maybe you should still get out."

Quinn sighed, "Was I not supposed to remember that?"

"Maybe not!" Frannie snapped, she threw the magazine across the room, "Do you think I'm happy?!"

Quinn squinted her eyes at her sister, unfazed, "No."

"Oh boohoo, Quinnie kissed her boyfriend's best friend! Your life sounds so hard, Quinn!" Frannie screamed.

Quinn rolled her eyes. This was why she was dreading going to her sister for advice. Either she'd get actual 'helpful' stuff or crisis mode.

"My life is way worse than yours will ever be!" Frannie let her tears come back into her eyes, "I'm cheating, and no not giving him little high school kisses, like sex. Actual sex! Do you even know what that is?!"

Quinn sighed, "Sure."

"Liar." Frannie wiped at her face, "I'm gonna lose it all. My fiancé. Dad. My reputation. Just because I can't separate myself from some neighborhood Mexican pool boy with a silky voice and beautiful face."

Quinn let out a laugh, "He's Puerto Rican and a chef. I can't tell if you're being racist or he's been telling you stuff-"

"You know what, how about you get out?"

"Fine." Quinn stood up from the chair.

"Did it mean something?"

"Hmm?"

"The kiss, dufus?"

Quinn thought for a moment before shaking her head, "No. And it was subpar."

"Well then worry about more important things cause this is a. Waste. Of. Time!"

"Like the student election?"

" _Like the student election_?" Frannie mocked in a baby voice, "If I lose my fiancé then I'll be staying here with mom forever. No money."

Quinn smiled, "You can just marry Ale."

"And be excommunicated from dad's inheritance? Thanks for the stupid idea!"

Quinn rolled her eyes again and headed for the door.

"Don't tell them." Frannie said, gaining her attention once more, "If you like this guy, the one you were probably learning Spanish for, then don't tell them."

Quinn thought this over before turning to her sister, "I thought it wasn't a big deal if it didn't mean anything."

Frannie gave her look before laughing, "Hey. I guess not."

Quinn nodded her head at the girl before exiting the room, making sure to leave the door slightly ajar so that Frannie would have to get up to close it later.

Once she made it back to her room, Quinn felt weird. She knew that hiding this would probably hurt Santana, especially if she found out about it. But she also knew it was nothing series, and it was just a kiss. There were more important things to worry about. Right?


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: Hey Y'all! I'm loving all the reviews, even the super frustrated ones. Just wanted to say my thanks and here's a nice little frustrating chapter for yah.**

Quinn hadn't slept properly for six days and counting. Every time she closed her eyes, she thought about Santana breaking up with her or crying over heartbreak or worse. Once she dreamt that Santana decided revenge would be the best tactic and the brunette announced that she was commencing revenge on Quinn in front of everyone soon. That enough woke Quinn from sleep.

All this over some dumb kiss. An intoxicated kiss. A kiss that made her puke right after. This should be easy to get over.

Quinn was also avoiding Santana out of shame, which was only easy in the beginning. At first, all Quinn had to do was go to class and go to practice and just fast walk her way past Santana and to the car her father was letting her borrow. Since she was starting to drive now it was easier to run off.

But then Santana started going to every class, and then kept asking Quinn to talk to her about cheers after practice and Quinn was running out of excuses.

Correction, Quinn had officially run out of excuses today as she watched the team slug off the field at the conclusion of cheer practice. She placed her hands on her hips and sighed, then took a chance to look at Santana.

She hadn't really looked at her all week, finding it easier to look away as she avoided her.

Santana waited patiently on the bench, legs cross and eyes down in the cheer binder.

"God," Quinn said in vain as she looked at the brunette. She looked amazing today and Quinn was in no manner to talk to her.

 _You don't deserve her. First, it's just you being you. Worthless. Ruined after what happened in New York. And now you plan on ruining her by breaking her heart over some loser. Good job, Quinnie._

Quinn cringed, not expected to hear her father's voice in her head. She really needed to get some sleep.

She straightened her back and walked towards the bench, "I can't look over the cheers today-"

Santana put up a hand to stop her. She took a moment to look up, looking up from the book then up Quinn's body and then to her face with absolutely no emotion, "We have to. Coach says."

Quinn sighed and sat next to brunette, making sure there was enough space between them for the binder to sit perfectly open, "Fine."

Santana didn't lay the binder between them, she kept it on her lap and played with it for a moment, "You haven't been sleeping?"

Quinn looked away, "Do I look that bad?"

"No. You look great." Santana began to pick at her nails, "I can just tell."

They sat in silence for a few moments before Santana spoke up, "I'm sorry-"

"Don't." Quinn interrupted, "It's fine. I promise."

"It's obviously not." Santana closed the binder, "You've been avoiding me."

Quinn nodded and looked down to her lap.

"Why?"

Quinn shrugged. She felt sick to her stomach making Santana sad and she wanted just to tell her what was up but she can still hear him talking in her head.

 _You'll break her heart if you tell her. But isn't that what you wanted? By waiting this long? Who knew you were such a dumbass. Now it looks like you're just using her like Jenny used you. Is that who you are? Just like Jenny?_

She froze when she felt a light touch on her arm, she looked over to see Santana slightly leaning towards her.

Santana asked, with concern in her eyes, "Are you okay?"

Quinn nodded, her breath slowing down. She was having a panic attack, she recognized the feeling of coming down from it. She waited a few moments to regain her breathe, letting Santana's hand stay with her before saying, "I can't do this today."

Santana nodded, taking her hand away, "Okay."

Quinn looked over to her, "You don't have to be understanding. You can be mad."

"I am." Santana smirked, "but like how's it gonna help anything."

"Okay. I'm gonna go." Quinn went to stand up but turned to Santana before leaving, "Tomorrow? Can we talk?"

"Before or after your election speech thing?"

Quinn had totally forgotten about that. She looked down to her feet and almost kicked herself, "Before."

"Okay."

"I'm sorry."

Santana pulled the binder to her chest, "For what?"

Quinn shrugged a shoulder, "For avoiding you."

A pregnant moment passed before Santana smiled, "Okay."

Then Quinn turned away.

 **XXX**

Santana opened her front door and threw her keys to the floor. Quinn was going to break up with her tomorrow. She had a feeling. Whether it was over her parents plan thing or their argument, it didn't matter. This was it.

Santana hadn't been taking these six days very well. Being ignored, by her girlfriend of all people, left her in the worst of moods. She was going off at everyone and everything. She had made a total of five people cry, one including Ms. Pillsbury.

She knew she was on a rampage but she couldn't help it. Even the glee kids were walking on eggshells around her, her comments and teasing were becoming a little less funny and more hostile every hour Quinn kept her eyes away from her.

And now she was going to break up with her. She didn't know whether to scream or cry.

"So much time wasted." Santana sighed to herself.

Before she could make it fully into the house, her father and brother began walking to the door. They paused once they saw her.

"You want to go to early dinner with us?" Pedro asked with a sweet smile.

"No."

"Too bad." He motioned for her to turn around and open the door.

Once they were all sitting at the restaurant, Santana tried to calm herself. She looked out the window, to the sky. The weather changing. It was trying to get cold. Change is natural and she's just going to have to accept it.

She slammed her hand onto the table. She hated change.

"Whoa there, food will be here soon." Pedro jokes.

"She's just mad because her girl ain't talking to her." Ale commented as she texted on his phone.

"Oh no!" Pedro put his hand over his heart, "Love troubles?"

"It's probably her fault." Ale joked.

Santana glared before turning to her father, "Ale is sleeping with Quinn's engaged older sister."

"Que?!" Pedro looked over to Ale, who dropped his phone on the table.

"She's joking!" He looked between them, "She's just taking it out on me cause she's having love problems and hasn't applied for /one/ college."

"Not one?" Pedro's attention went right back to Santana.

Santana sighed and leaned back into her chair, "So what?"

"Mia," Pedro hummed in disapproval, "You know when me and your Mami were your age we were already accepted into our first choices."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better?"

Ale let out a chuckle.

"No need to be hostile." Pedro shifted in his chair, "I'm just trying to say that me and your mom are worried-"

"If she's so worried then where is she?"

"You know she's busy-"

"Yep, always busy." Santana took the napkin resting in her lap and dropped it onto her empty plate, "Look you both order without me, I'm not hungry."

"Mia-"

"And if mom ever finds her way home, maybe she can speak for herself." Santana stood up from her chair and made for the exit.

As she stepped through the door she was surprised to bump into another human being. The being dropped their belongings to the floor and a chorus of apologies resided between them as they both bent down to pick them up. As Santana went to pass some lipstick she noticed the person was blonde and paused.

For a second she thought it was Quinn and she felt a shiver run through her veins. She can hold it in when she expected her, at school and practice but not in public.

The woman looked over to her, furrowed her brows, "Oh my goodness did I hurt you?"

"Hmm?" Santana shook her head before feeling that she had indeed shed a tear. She wiped it away and handed the lady her lipstick, "Sorry about that."

"Dear, why are you crying?" The lady asked as they stood up from the pavement.

Santana shrugged, "I guess I'm... just scared."

With that she turned away and began to walk back home. She didn't know what scared her more; breaking up with Quinn, the future after the safety net of high school, or the emptiness of the house she was currently heading back to. She knew these were all easy adjustments for everyone else, but she couldn't help just to feel scared.

 **XXX**

Another restless night for Quinn, for good reason this time. She was practicing for the debate for the elections and practicing a few things for when she got to talk to Santana in about ten minutes.

In total, she was ready to just tell Santana the full truth. She kissed Puck. It was no big deal. Nothing came from it and nothing will. And she's willing to take whatever punishment that was coming for her, as long Santana didn't break up with her.

She wasn't sure how her sister and father were able to keep these secrets at bay for so long but Quinn had to admit it to herself. She wasn't like them. She never was. And she was no cheater.

At least not on Santana.

Quinn sat silently at the piano in the choir room. It was way too early for many people to be at school so she wasn't too worried about anyone walking in on their heart to heart. She pressed her index finger on the C key, smiling to herself.

She didn't know why she wasn't doing this earlier. It was idiotic holding this in. Maybe she was trying to prove something to herself.

Either way, it didn't matter. Santana would be coming in soon and she'd explain and they'd have a little argument and hopefully, she'll have Santana in her arms by the end of it. This avoiding situation was physically draining her and she'd do anything to just hold Santana for a few moments.

And now she will. She let her middle finger fall to the E key.

A sudden hallow grind of her phone vibrated loudly on the piano, causing her hand on the keys to move up to grab it. She expected a message from her girlfriend, but instead, she was chained in a group message. The largest group message that she'd ever been chained on.

She opened it, the thought of it being a virus flashing through her mind, before clicking on the video attached to it.

It started with only a black screen, slight mumbling in the background. The camera moved around and peaked into a room, moving hanging clothes blocking the view. The camera person was sitting in a closet, filming into a room and Quinn scoffed at the creep factor as her thumb moved to pause the video.

That was until she saw who the person was creeping on.

There in the room was herself and Puck, laughing about something on the floor next to a large bed. A bottle of whiskey and crumbled up paper between them.

Quinn recognized her outfit and grabbed her phone tight between her hands as she watched the video, the memory hitting her hard.

 _Quinn watched Puck take the last swigs of the whiskey, her face crinkling up, "That wasn't yours to finish."_

 _He rolled his eyes, "You're plastered! You weren't going to finish it."_

" _I'm not plastered." She pointed a finger at him, the last word of her sentence failing to be coherent._

 _He laughed before locking eyes with her. He didn't say anything for awhile and Quinn giggled and asked, "What? What are you looking at?"_

 _Puck shook his head, "This is gonna be weird."_

" _Whatever, just say."_

" _It's about you and San-"_

" _Oh please no." Quinn tried to hush him._

" _No, look," Puck scooted himself closer to her, "What makes her better than me?"_

 _Quinn furrowed her brow. She could name a lot of things but instead, she giggled, "Her ass."_

" _Her ass?!" Puck belly laughed before standing up and turning around, "My ass is great? What's the difference?"_

" _Everything!" She hit him on the back of the thigh before pulling him back down to sit, "She's just more attractive."_

" _Like how?" Puck laughed, "I mean, I get it. She's hot. But she's a bitch."_

" _Hey!" Quinn landed another hit, this time on the shoulder._

 _He rubbed at his shoulder, Quinn's hits becoming a little less restricted, "She is though. She's mean and can be really rude and-"_

" _And she's your best friend."_

" _I thought this was a safe space."_

 _Quinn chuckled, "Sure. Okay, I guess. Yeah, you have a point. But I like it."_

" _You like when she's mean to you?"_

 _Quinn smiled and shrugged._

" _Does it..." Puck looked down at her lap and then back to her face._

" _What? No! Perv!" Quinn laughed, not sure if she actually found that funny._

" _It's okay if it does. I like a mean girl every now and then." He smiled proudly._

" _You mean Zizes?"_

" _Yeah." Puck gave a goofy smile, "The confidence when that girl tells me off. It's somethin'."_

 _He gave a fake shiver and Quinn smiled._

 _Puck smiled back, "But seriously. Does girly do that for you as well?"_

 _Quinn looked down and shrugged. She felt weird about talking about this stuff with Puck, but at the same time it felt invigorating speaking about unspeakables, "She's very beautiful when she's mad."_

 _Puck let out a gust of air, "Beautiful? That's boring."_

" _Hot?"_

" _Better!" Puck put his fist under his chin, "Tell me about a time where she made you feel hot and bothered while she was pissed."_

" _Noah..."_

" _You tell me one and I'll tell you one about Zizes."_

" _Promise?"_

" _Sure."_

" _I don't know..." Quinn bit her lip as she looked away, "Once we were arguing in the hallway. About being head Cheerio or something dumb. And she was being so mean. I wanted to keep up but I was barely... And then she said something and I realized that I was getting... You know... Not sure if she knew but I felt it. So I started laying it on thick. And her face. She got so mad. I thought she was gonna hit me or something. I don't know what I wanted but I wanted her right then and I..."_

 _Quinn closed her eyes and put her hands on her face. What was she saying? Especially in front of Puck? She tried to open her eyes fast but her head felt heavy and her vision was starting to get a little dizzy._

 _She folded her legs tight and took a few deep breaths, the alcohol didn't seem to be wearing off anytime soon._

 _She looked up to see the boy staring her down. She didn't like the look in his eyes, "Stop."_

 _He nodded and looked away, "Sorry."_

 _They both sat in silence for a few moments._

" _Look, I'm thinkin' since we both are alone-"_

" _No, Noah."_

" _Hear me out." Puck put up his hands and scooted to where their legs touched, "You've got us both worked up, it wouldn't be fair."_

 _That didn't make much sense. Quinn knew it didn't, but it took a moment to react as he leaned in close. He almost kissed her but she put her hand against his chest._

" _You'd really do this." Quinn asked, "Even though Santana would kill you. She'd kill you."_

 _He shrugged, "We just don't tell her."_

 _Quinn was taken back. To be so free of caring and worrying about actions. She wanted to be like that. She wanted to suck it right out of his brain and live stupid and happy and dumb and walk into repercussions like accidentally stepping in a puddle._

 _So that's why she let him kiss her and didn't move his hand away as it started to snake up her leg._

 _One of his hands held tightly against the side of her head and it almost hurt. And his kisses were sloppy and strange like he was trying to get as much as he could before she changed her mind._

 _And she couldn't really stand it. Her stomach was turning and her hands began to shake as she started to push him away, "No more."_

" _Wait why?" Puck pulled away only slightly, "Come on, you're gonna break up with her anyways. So what's the point?"_

 _He leaned back in but she pushed his face away with her hand. She opened her mouth to say something but instead felt a familiar sting to her throat and heaved her intake of whiskey onto his lap. He screamed and she let out a loud laugh before she closed her eyes and let her heavy head take her down to the floor._

That was all that Quinn could remember but the video kept going. Quinn laid her head on the floor and became unresponsive as Puck jumped to his feet and cursed. He began to pace, mumbling words that couldn't be heard by the recording before stopping over Quinn's body and looking down at her.

"Quinn!" He screamed over her. She didn't respond so he sighed, "I'm a good guy! I'm good looking! Why don't you want me? Why does nobody want me?"

He squatted down and put his face in his hands. You couldn't tell by what was shown but from the way, his voice squeaked he was obviously crying, "San didn't want me. Lauren didn't want me. You don't want me. You involved me in all your shit but nothing in return. And you're not even staying with her, you fuckin bitch."

He wiped at his tears, "I'm gonna make sure that she gets you first. She'll be breaking up with you!"

He looked down at Quinn, his back to the camera. He waited a long time before sniffling and helping her onto the bed, "I'm sorry. I lost it. I'm sorry."

Once she was on the bed he tossed the covers over her and wiped at his face with the back of his hand before walking off camera. Then the video ended.

Quinn sat frozen, her eyes on her phone and her breath caught in her throat. She closed her eyes tightly, opening them to still see her phone with the video in front of her.

Her finger went on their own accord to see who sent it. A blocked number. She didn't know blocked numbers could sent texts. Then she looked at who it was sent to.

A lot of people. Many numbers that she didn't recognize but as she scrolled she saw a few that she had saved in her contacts. Some basketball players, IT nerds, Rachel Berry. And there was Santana's number.

Sweat began to formulate against her back as she pulled herself to stand up. There was a lot to unpack but the first that in her head was to go explain. She needed to explain.

Her legs were shaking as she walked to her car. She noticed a few students in the hallway, the gave her looks as she passed them but maybe it was due to her swaying in the hallway trying to get out of the school as fast as her legs moved.

The car ride to Santana's house was a blur. It happened so fast that Quinn was surprised she wasn't pulled over for reckless driving. As she parked her car she noticed Santana's car door wide open. It was empty when she walked over, keys were still inside. She locked the car on her way to the house, happy to have the keys with her as the front door was locked.

She walked in to see Ale looking up the stairs.

He looked over to her, "What the hell happen?"

Quinn folded her arms tight against herself, "I... fucked up."

Ale opened his mouth to talk but a loud bang sounded from upstairs. They both looked at each other both ascending the stairs as fast as they could.

Quinn somehow made it before him and threw herself into Santana's room. She paused once she walked inside, the room was trashed. Posters ripped from the walls, glass from her vanity on the floor and books tossed in various directions.

"What are you doing here?" Santana whined. She was sitting on her bed, cradling her left hand between her thighs. She had a nice sized hole in her wall right above her head.

"San..." Quinn placed her hand over her mouth as she started to walk towards the other girl, noticing that the brunette had injured her hand enough to leave behind red splotches on the wall.

"I thought you said you liked it when I was mad." Santana sneered between hiccups. Her face was wet and makeup cascaded down her cheeks.

Quinn got on her knee and crawled her way over to Santana, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I was drunk. And I should have told you but I was scared, San-"

"Shut up and leave me alone." Her voice was even but her body shook and Quinn didn't like this kind of angry. It kind of scared her.

"What the hell, dude." Ale walked into the room, "What did you do?"

"Get. Out." She directed at Ale.

"What did I do?" He asked as he took a few steps back so that he would technically be out of the room.

"San, we need to talk about this," Quinn begged.

Santana shook her head, "I don't want to talk."

"I know what you saw and what I told you were two different things but I can explain-"

"Explain why you made me feel like I was the worst person in the world? Explain why you and your family are full of liars and manipulators and cheaters? Quinn? Is that what you want to explain?"

Quinn struggled, "I don't know. I just need to tell you everything so that it makes sense."

"I swear to God, Quinn." Santana stood up, her hands in fists, "Leave me alone."

"I'm not leaving without us-" She was interrupted as Santana grabbed her by the shoulders and dragged her out of the room. It wasn't the first time Quinn had been picked up this way, but it was by far the most gentle. Especially since the girl was obviously heated.

Quinn was set behind the door and Santana shut the door in her face, ending their conversation before it began. Quinn stood up, shaken from the movement.

"Are you okay? Did she hurt you?" Ale asked as he inspected Quinn's shoulder sleeve, now sporting a red handprint.

"I'm fine." Quinn pulled her phone out of her pocket and began to walk down the stairs. She pulled up the only person who would be able to talk to Santana like this.

 **XXX**

Quinn and Ale waited downstairs as Maribel's stern voice murmured from above.

Ale gave a laugh, "I can't believe you messed this up."

Quinn looked over to him, they hadn't spoken a word in three hours so she wasn't sure if he actually said anything, "What?"

"Like you obviously cheated. She had a feeling and she dismissed it. And she'd been fretting on for a while and I think this was it..."

Quinn rolled her eyes, "Thanks for telling me what I already know."

"Don't get mad at the messenger for your mistakes."

"Look, I'd rather get lectured by someone who isn't sleeping with my engaged sister thank you." Quinn snapped.

Ale deflated and looked over to the stairs.

Quinn turned to look as well and there stood Maribel with her arms folded.

Her eyes looked tired, "I think it's time for you to go home, Quinn."

Quinn stood up and turned fully to the woman, "Can I see San first?"

"That's not a good idea right now. She's had..." Maribel sighed, "A little bit of a meltdown so just give her some time."

Quinn walked to the woman, emotions finally bubbling over, "I'm sorry."

"I know." Maribel gave her a sad smile and put a hand on her shoulder, "Just give her some space."

Quinn shook her head, "I love her."

"Okay," Maribel sighed, "So let's do what's best, huh?"

Quinn nodded, suddenly feeling unwelcome within the Lopez home, "Please don't hate me."

"I don't." Maribel nodded, instead of a hug she opted for a squeeze of the shoulder before directing Quinn towards the door, "Go get some rest. You both need it."

Quinn nodded and allowed the woman to lead her out of the house.

She walked across the street and towards her house, leaving her car at the Lopez's. She wasn't sure if she was going to get any sleep anytime soon.


	26. Chapter 26

Santana rolled over in her bed and stared at her clock. Five minutes before she was supposed to get up. She sighed, there were only a few things worse than waking up earlier than your alarm clock.

She reached over and steadied her left hand over it, ready to use her cast as a battering ram against the small thing once it sounds. That was the only thing she liked about the new cast tight against her wrist, she could hit things with it.

Of course, that wasn't what she was supposed to be using it for. Hitting was not the solution to anything, including getting angry and yadda yadda yadda. Why teach her to throw a punch when she's not supposed to?

Today was her official back to school day after missing three whole weeks of it. She had a little mini-meltdown that she didn't personally think was a big deal but her parents definitely did so they took her out for a little R & R. Which was both a curse and a blessing.

A curse because she had to spend three straight weeks with her parents. She hadn't seen that much of them since she was seven. And they all started seeing a family therapist which was her father's idea gathered from his doctor friends. It was terrible, her mother hated it, and it useless because Santana had only talked to one counselor in her entire life and that's Ms. Pillsbury. And she doesn't tell that lady much.

It was a blessing that she didn't have to go back to school and face the embarrassment that was the whole 'caught Quinn and Puck kissing on candid camera' thing. It would have been at its prime and nobody would have left her alone and she could only imagine the taunting and ridicule.

And then seeing Quinn and Puck's faces walking through the halls. It would have been too much to an already too much situation for Santana. She would have actually hurt someone. Or herself more than she already had.

It all was too much; the Quinn stuff, her grandmother issues, her stress about college.

She wondered though, and this was a thought that had been coming up for the past couple of weeks, how did Quinn do it?

This was just a drop of drama in the major stuff that Quinn went through on a daily basis. And this drop of drama was just enough for Santana's shit to get fucked up. Quinn was way stronger than her.

The brunette hadn't seen her since her meltdown and wondered if she even thought about her being gone off the face of the planet.

Santana wouldn't say that she totally forgave Quinn, she was still hurt by the entire thing. When it went through her mind she would either feel like pulling something apart with her bare hands or stomping her foot down or shedding a few tears in frustration. But today wasn't as bad as the actual day she saw that awful video.

She sometimes imagined if she had made it to school earlier that day, on the time as she had planned and not ten minutes later because of Ale misplacing her keys. If she had seen that video at the school's parking lot would she have been able to drive back home? Would she have stomped her way inside to look for an explanation from Quinn? What if the video was sent while she and Quinn were talking? Would that have been worse? To see Quinn's face while they watched the blonde disrespect her with her best friend?

Santana didn't know, but she did know one thing that she couldn't really help.

She missed Quinn. Santana could physically feel something close to heart ache and she wondered why time was only making it worse. She would rather go back to Quinn avoiding her in the halls of their school. At least she got to see her.

She just needed her around. They were friends before anything and she'd rather have that than anything else.

She watched as the alarm clock hit 7:00, the metal device shook and rang loudly against her nightstand. She hit it once to turn it off and once more so that it would shoot off the nightstand and crash loudly against the floor.

Then she counted to five before her door rammed open with her dad breathing heavily, "Que pasa?!"

"Nothing." Santana sat up in her bed, "Dropped the clock."

He squinted his eyes at her and pointed a finger as he laughed, "Get dressed. Back to school with you."

The ride to school was terrible. It had been years since Santana had to be driven by a parent to school, especially by her own mother. She begged Maribel to stop as far as she could from the school and hopped out with barely a goodbye.

Okay, actually walking _into_ the school was terrible. People had eyes on her and mumbled around her. It was tired-some but at least they still parted ways as she walked down the hall.

She stopped by the choir room and looked in, the room was crowded with the glee kids all whispered to each other.

She sighed as she stepped in, "Is there a secret meeting today?"

"Sanny!" Brittany jumped up out of her chair and rushed over to the brunette, engulfing her into a hug that brought her feet off the ground.

Once back on the ground, Santana noticed all the happy faces. They actually looked happy to see her, "What's going on?"

"We have a surprise for you. Please sit?" Rachel motioned for her to sit in the front row.

Santana did what was told and was greeted with a little song and dance number. She didn't recognize the song but it seemed genuine and everyone was really into it.

As they danced around her she couldn't help to notice a few people missing. She was happy not to see Puck but where was Quinn? Did she get kicked out of glee club or is she still too ashamed to look at Santana?

The song number ended and Santana brought her attention back to the group in front of her. She clapped, "Thanks for the song, nerds."

"Good to have you back, Satan." Mercedes laughed as she walked back to her seat.

"Can I sign your cast?" Kurt asked as he sat next to Santana.

"Not if you're going to write something gay."

Kurt rolled his eyes with a smile, "Old Santana is back. Great."

By the time lunch had rolled in it seemed like most of everyone was happy to have her back. Even when she spewed straight attitude at them they took it with a smile.

At first it was nice, but by fourth period and after a lacrosse player actually laughed at a joke (unlike normally when he'd usually say something sexist or racist to try to get her riled up) she knew there was more than everyone being nice.

So she grabbed the nearest freshman and shoved him into a locker during passing period, "Why is everyone being so nice to me today?"

He looked around, eyes bugging and gulping loudly, "Are they?"

"Yes! Now tell me why or else I'll pummel you with my cast until it breaks off my fist." She let her casted hand slam into the locker next to him for extra effect even though it didn't feel too good to do it.

He put up his hands in surrender, "Honestly, me and my friends were just being friendly. But like, I heard that some of the jocks were threatened to be nice."

"By who?"

He looked around, "I can't say."

Then he snaked away from her and ran off. She stood confused for a few moments before stomping off to Brittany who was rattling something off to Mercedes, Kurt, and Tina.

"Are you guys being threatened to be nice to me?" She interrupted.

They all looked at her in silence, confusion on their faces.

Tina answered first, "What? No."

"Well, I heard that the jerks, I mean jocks, were." Santana folded her arms, "Explain."

They all looked at each other before they simultaneously came into realization and shook their heads.

Santana waited for something, "Hello?"

"Don't worry about it." Mercedes waved her hand.

Santana looked over to Brittany who was glad to give a better answer, "It's she who shall not be named."

"Who? Quinn?" They all paused at Santana saying her name before nodding, "She threatened people? What?"

"Like I said, don't worry about it." Mercedes laughed, "That girl has been a mess but at least she has time to make sure you have a good day back."

Well... that's nice of the blonde. Santana didn't really know what to do with that information. She wanted to shove down the warmth suddenly rising in her chest but it was pleasant and she had to bite down on her cheek from the smiling that was threatening to show on her face. Of course Quinn was still thinking about her. Should Santana go find her to thank her?

"No!" Brittany put her hand on Santana's shoulder. Santana looked up in confusion, "You have that look on your face."

Santana took the hand of her shoulder, "What look?"

"The thinking about Quinn look."

"Seriously?" Tina interjected, "You're not seriously going to forgive her. She embarrassed you in front of the entire school! And cheated!"

"I think we are being too tough on her," Kurt folded his arms, "The girl was drunk out of her mind and didn't even look like she liked kissing Puck. She pushed him away remember?"

Tina sighed, "I guess! But why didn't she tell Santana? Everyone knew about it but-"

Santana tuned out after that. They could argue about this all they wanted but in reality, she herself probably needed to hash this out with Quinn. That is if she could find her.

An entire school day passed without sight of her and Santana was half confused and half relieved. Quinn had most of the same classes so skipping was unusual, but then again Santana made absolutely no real effort to find her. Could have texted or even asked around but she didn't.

Maybe she wasn't really ready to see her.

"What do you think, mija?" Maribel popped her out of her own head. She was eating dinner with her parents, a new activity suggested by her father's family therapist. Usually, when she would eat dinner, not that she often did, she would be alone next to a computer screen or television. So every now and then Santana forgot that she needed to be listening.

That was unless Quinn was able to eat dinner with her. The blonde also had to attend a lot of family dinners and from what she told Santana, they don't really work.

When Santana responded with a raised eyebrow, the woman sighed, "I have to go on a business trip so I won't be home for a week. That's not too long is it?"

Santana suppressed her eye roll. She knew that her parents were trying to be there for her and all that jazz but it was suffocating. She really didn't care about her mom leaving for a business trip, the woman took so many over the years that one year she barely unpacked her luggage when she got home cause she was off again before they knew it.

Santana wanted to voice that but they had been trying so hard, she couldn't really get herself to be sarcastic tonight, "It's fine."

Her mother smiled and went back to eating and Santana tried to appreciate the murmuring between her parents.

The next day at school was around the same. People were nice.

She got one attitude from a girl in her history class after Santana told the girl that her ideals about history were questionable and that the girl should actually pick up the textbook before answering a question. The girl got angry and Santana smiled as things were almost back to normal.

Except still no Quinn. She didn't want to be looking for her but she couldn't help it. The girl didn't come to class or walked in the hallways or sat in the cafeteria. She disappeared.

She didn't even come to cheer practice anymore. Santana found out as she joined the team by the side of the field, a makeshift meeting before practice the next day.

They all sat in a circle as Santana tried to focus them away from the football team practicing yards away.

"Yeah after you left, she just quit the team." Brie explained with a wicked smile, "Which we all thought was an opening for a new position but Brittany took it fast."

Santana looked over to Brittany, "You took charge, Britt?"

Brittany shrugged, "I pretended that I was a Quinn and Santana baby and just told everyone what to do."

Santana smiled, "Good job," she turned back to the girls, "But since Quinn has quit... that means we'll have to work harder to get the new routines down."

"Should you even be out here with that?" Brie pointed to her cast.

Honestly, she wasn't, but Santana missed wearing the Cheerio outfit and wanted to be with the team faster than she could heal so nothing was stopping her, "If I couldn't do everything with only one hand I wouldn't be captain."

A few of the football players yelled for the girls to duck as a football flew over their heads. It landed behind the bleachers and a few guys began to run over to it before stopping and walking back to the field in defeat.

Usually, Santana wouldn't have noticed this but on normal days the football players would throw their balls in the direction of the bleachers just so that they could interact with the losers who hung out underneath. They'd make fun of them or yell at them to get some frustration out and then come back to the field with smiles and high fives. It was a past-time with the jocks. It wasn't a very nice past-time but it was routine.

Even sometimes the Cheerios would go behind there and pick fun of the goths and freaks and punks that hated them but stayed so close to the field. But no one was going over there today.

Santana felt a familiar need to snoop set into her. She hadn't felt it for awhile and it was the most she felt like herself in a while. She stood up and excused herself from the team.

She walked over to the large bleachers, happy to have the excuse of getting the football, as she spotted the ball a little deep behind the pillars of the mechanical thing. She picked up the ball and cradled it in her arms and she took a slight look around.

The place was gross; litter everywhere and an actual old ass couch sitting right in the middle of it. The normal weirdos were there, the self-declared Skanks sitting around the ugly couch bumming a cigarette off each other.

Santana shook her head at them, trying to decide if they were all really that broke that they could only manage one cigarette between them or if they were really that close.

Santana paused. She didn't recognize one of the faces. The one with the pink hair and the raggedy ass beanie. The girl looked over and paused as well, pulling down her sunglasses to look over the brim and-

"Quinn?!" Santana exclaimed. Her scream brought the girl to her feet and Santana took in the full new look Quinn was sporting.

Her hair was chopped and dyed haphazardly pink and she was sporting makeup like she was about to head an emo rock festival somewhere. Her whole outfit looked like that and were those fishnets?

Santana put a hand to her chest and let out a gust of air that almost turned into laughter, "Oh my god."

"Santana!" Brittany's voice rang next to her as the taller blonde grabbed her arm. She pulled a stunned Santana from out of the bleachers and pushed her back towards the field.

"What the hell is she wearing?" Santana asked on their way out, not sure if she should laugh or turn back around.

"It's a long story." Brittany responded as she took the football from Santana's grip and threw it back to the players.

 **XXX**

The 5 o'clock traffic into town was horrendous and Frannie knew it. That was why she made Quinn drive her to Cakes n' Bakes to look at her potential wedding cake. As Quinn tapped her fingers on the steering wheel she couldn't help think about Santana.

She hadn't seen her in what it felt like forever and the first thing she did was laugh at Quinn's new look.

Quinn smiled at the memory, she couldn't have asked for a better reaction. She looked crazy different, that was the point.

Quinn parked the car in front of the store and looked over to her sister.

"Stay in the car," Frannie unbuckled her seat belt and stopped before opening the door, "Because I don't want people to think my sister is a gremlin."

Quinn rolled her eyes, "Thanks."

Frannie blew her a kiss and pushed herself out of the car.

Quinn sat back and grabbed her phone, letting her sister's insult wash over her. The older girl had been dishing it out ever since Quinn decided to cut her hair.

It happened around five days after the whole Santana 'meltdown' thing. She wasn't dealing with it very well and called Maribel about the brunette every other hour until the woman told her to stop.

Maribel didn't want her coming by or calling or texting until Santana was feeling better. She never got the okay, so she hadn't seen her during the entire three weeks.

Quinn wasn't sure when she did it, but one night maybe around midnight or 3 am she looked in the mirror and felt her blood boil. She was sick of trying so hard to be associated with this family. Her morales were screwed and her relationship was ruined and it was all because of how much she wanted to actually be apart of this family.

And the fact that she didn't have to try that hard. She let her hand run through her hair, she looked just like her sister. That should have been enough.

She didn't want to be this way anymore.

She walked over to her desk and pulled out a pair of scissors and without a pause, snipped at her hair. And then again. And then again. And by the time the sun came up hair didn't look much like it came from her family.

They thought so as well, her mom almost having a heart attack at the sight of her. She wasn't too happy about the makeshift haircut and grabbed Quinn by the wrist and walked her into a hair stylist at 8 in the morning. She didn't save much of it and Quinn was left with a super short bob.

At school no one cared, they just kept up with bombarding her with snide comments and the entirety of the glee club avoided her.

It was lonely, but she felt like she deserved it.

On the first weekend, she kept receiving calls from Puck. She never answered them but he kept calling, which was annoying since she wanted to keep the phone line free in case Santana called.

One night her family were gathered at the table and her father was going on about his job and other things Quinn could not care for. She was starting to find him more insufferable than normal and could barely stand the sound of his voice.

Then he tried talking to her, "So I heard that you won class president, Lucy."

She winced. After the humiliation during the elections, she wasn't too surprised that she still won. The McKinley high students had a sick sense of humor.

"Yes." She poked at a piece of broccoli on her plate with the point of her fork. She wondered if Santana was eating. She hoped she was staying healthy.

"Well, congratulations, little one." He reached over to touch her shoulder.

She jumped, surprised by his touch and the nickname.

He retracted his hand and looked at his wife nervously, "I wasn't gonna hurt you, Lucy. Are you alright?"

Quinn set her fork next to her plate and looked over to her father. She studied his face, wrinkles splashed by his eyes and crumbled against his forehead. She hadn't noticed how old he was getting, but Quinn could still see it.

Behind the whiskey on his tongue and the frown lines, he was still her dad. The dad that use to make her feel safe and strong and helped her feel better when she fell a little too hard on concrete. He used to pick her up and hug her close and hold her hand until she felt like standing back on her own two feet. Maybe he could still do that.

Cause Quinn was ready to be honest. She couldn't stomach not fully expressing her presence in this house. She walked around like a spirit, gliding through the hallways barely touching the ground. Barely making it known that she was alive. Not even her room looked occupied as her personal belongings stayed hidden in fear of prying.

But she was tired of hiding. Tired of lying. Just tired.

Her father looked worried.

Quinn sighed, "I need to talk to you."

Russell stared at her, looking back between Quinn and his wife. He was frozen, uncomfortable, "Sure thing, Lucy. Go ahead."

Quinn looked down, her throat feeling like it was closing up. She wiped her hands on the bottom of her dress and cleared her throat. If she didn't say it now, she wouldn't say it at all, "I, uh... I'm bi."

Silence. Everyone at the table was stunned, even Quinn was stunned that she said it. Judy was making a slight noise, almost a gasp that was so light that only their silence could hear it.

"Excuse me?" Russell cleared his throat.

"Bisexual." Quinn clarified. She looked over to him and kept her eyes on him as he fidgeted in his seat.

"We've had this conversation before-"

"Then you know I very much mean it this time." Quinn wasn't going to back down. Her confidence was working and though she was ready to duck in case her father's anger flared, it seemed as though her straightened back and even tone took the man off guard.

He fixed at his collar and stood up from his chair, stepping out of the room.

Once he was gone from ear shot Judy hissed over, "What are you doing?!"

"I'm sick of this, mom." Quinn whined to her, "I just want to be me."

Judy shook her head, "He won't pay for your college. He'll disown you-"

"I'll get a scholarship, who cares. I'm done."

At Quinn's last word, Russell returned back to the room. As he sat down he placed a book next to Quinn's plate. It was the Bible.

"We've gone through this before, Lucy," he said calmly, "And I don't want to have to teach you the same way I taught you last time but you and I both know this isn't okay."

Quinn looked at the book, remembering the day her father found out about what Jenny was doing to her. Quinn had explained to him that she had romantic feelings for the girl even though she knew she was being used. He had slapped her with the Bible. Straight in the face and told her that she was sinning with even speaking that into the air.

Quinn put her hand onto the Bible, she wasn't fourteen anymore and she wasn't going to be afraid. She looked to her father, "I have my father's temper and your approach to this will only make it flare."

She mocked the words that he said to her that day, even putting on the Southern twang he sported when he was extra angry.

He blinked his eyes in surprise, "Young lady."

"Some nights I pray that God returns grandpa in exchange for you." Quinn spilled. She gave a smile to his shocked face as she stood up, "I'm going to my room. Do not bother me unless you're dying."

She chanced a look over to her mother. The woman was horrified, so she looked away to her sister across the table. Frannie held her white cloth napkin to her mouth, but her eyes shined at Quinn. She wasn't shocked, there was delight in her eyes.

Quinn gave her a smile before pushing herself away from the table, trying to not to run up to her room too fast.

That had been the start of Quinn doing a lot of things that she wasn't supposed to. She stopped being polite to her father every chance that she could. She stopped going to cheer practice. She stopped going to all her classes. She stopped trying to go back to glee.

She even found herself behind the bleachers one day, watching the cheerleaders through the cracks. She didn't want to be around them but she was worried that they were going to mess up her perfectly crafted cheers designed for the upcoming homecoming game.

That's when she almost got attacked by the Skanks. They thought she was trying to steal a bottle of Hennessy that they buried. Quinn laughed and they pushed her down to the dirt and Quinn laughed even more. Why would she know anything about where they hid anything? Does anyone give two cares about them enough to steal from them?

She was sure she said that part a bit crueler than intended because one of the girls, Mack, ended up kicking her hard in the stomach while she sat on the ground. It was a good kick, knocked the wind out of Quinn for a few moments and a few tears brittled her eyes.

But once her breath came back, she held her stomach and let the ground hold her steady, "You almost kick as hard as my dad."

That was when the Skanks starting letting her hang in the back bleachers with them. First, they let her just hang around so that she could keep an eye on the Cheerios. Then when a few jocks came by to ridicule the group, Quinn belittled them enough for their early departure and the Skanks invited her to sit with them.

They were nice enough. Full of anger and drama but the passion they had when talking about things they cared about was what kept Quinn returning. The girl who called herself Mack reminded Quinn of Santana. The way she carried herself was like if Santana was on overdrive with her annoyance towards the world. The girl was cruel and didn't seem to care about feelings or if she emotionally or physically hurt someone. So when she did manage to hurt Quinn in some way, which she did surprisingly often, the blonde would pretend that it was a extreme version of Santana finally punishing her for the embarrassment Quinn put her through. And then Quinn didn't feel as guilty as she did the day before.

The group encouraged her new behavior, and then encouraged a new hair dye, and then new clothes. It was a slippery slope and she didn't realize how silly it had gotten until she saw Santana today about to bust a gut over her appearance.

Quinn looked down at her outfit, she didn't think it was that bad. She would admit that she missed her dresses but she was already committing to the look and couldn't turn back now.

Quinn picked up her phone from the cup holder in her car, automatically scrolling to Santana's number. Would it be weird to call her? She seems better now so it should be okay. And Quinn didn't mind if they just spent the entire time laughing at Quinn for looking like this right now, but she just missed her.

Before she could make the call her phone rang, Mack's face took over her screen. She sighed, pressed answer and put it on speaker, "What?"

" _Come pick me up."_

"Busy." Quinn looked back at the cake shop.

" _What are you shopping with your mommy?"_

"Close."

" _Don't be lame."_

Quinn rolled her eyes and hung up the phone. She looked back at the cake shop and sighed. She was sure Frannie wasn't going to be out of there anytime soon. Plus she could find her way home, the girl was capable.

And with that Quinn started up the car and zoomed away.


End file.
